PHL - Management Deployment

[brown]

Problems 1-4 would be at least mostly cured by depeaking the hub operation. Doing some overflying of PHL should be a no-brainer.

Jim

Hey Jim,

You seem to be very professional and expierenced. I have noticed on Flightaware that in Philly USAirways sure has a lot of ground holds, on the other end of the spectrum my employer UPS seem to have ther acft off the ground in less than 15 minutes normally. Now I am talking at peak times with our widebodies heading overseas. Do you know the reason for this? Airport layout, Cargo prefererance?
Thanks

 

[Ramp Rogue]

Try spreading the wealth. Take some of the traffic away from PHL, and do some triangle flying with three cities involved. How about LGA-MCO-LAX-LGA with one plane, then use another plane going in the opposite direction, LAX-MCO-LGA-LAX. The same could be done with SFO-BOS-TPA-SFO BOS-SFO-TPA-BOS. Or maybe PIT-DCA-SEA-PIT SEA-DCA-PIT-SEA. These are just examples people, don't start disecting them. How about having nonstop flights from the major cities that could easily fill the planes, to the cities that are hosting the Superbowl, World Series, Indianapolis 400, Stanley Cup, NBA Championship, NBA Allstar Game, Mardi Gras, or The US Open? I know cities like SFO, LAX, SEA, SAN, PHX would easily fill more than one plane. Then fly the passengers back through the hubs. How about nonstops from BOS, MCO, TPA, LGA, MIA, CLE, IND, BWI, MSY to the West Coast? Everything doesn't have to go through PHL, CLT, LAS, or PHX to make a profit.

 

[allstrike]

Hey Jim,

You seem to be very professional and expierenced. I have noticed on Flightaware that in Philly USAirways sure has a lot of ground holds, on the other end of the spectrum my employer UPS seem to have ther acft off the ground in less than 15 minutes normally. Now I am talking at peak times with our widebodies heading overseas. Do you know the reason for this? Airport layout, Cargo prefererance?
Thanks

The reason is your on the other side of the airport...lol.

 

[philly rocks]

Well Hope777, I guess Mrs. Doubtfire is working from within. Consultants are here already.
This is what we need for passenger service at Phl Airport.

1- SABRE back and real soon.
2- staffing is up but overtime is cut, so thats redundant!
3- qualified managers with AIRLINE backround.
4- to stop squandering money on all these bs firms and start respecting senior agents that would certainly lead all if they weren't afraid of being terminated. Word is out that now that staffing is increasing there are many senior agents being watched and terminated!
5- administration is a big , big, mess and needs a total revamp. Can't make your customer service agents even more unhappy!
6- unfreeze the next two pay scales before 2011.
7- get the senior managers on the floor and from behind closed doors.
8- for god's sake, stop all those management meetings that go NOWHERE!
9- fix the baggage belt at A west
10- stop charging 2.00 for skycaps, it only makes lines much longer in the terminals.

BRING BACK SABRE USAIWAYS- I guarantee 60 % of our problems would be solved instantly!

 

[Dog Wonder]

It just amazes me to see how an employee (of any substantive value) can have such a miniscule understanding of their company's business and in many cases business in general.

In a nutshell, why management at this airline fails so consistently.

Arrogance of an exceptional nature, incompetence greater than arrogance.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I have noticed on Flightaware that in Philly USAirways sure has a lot of ground holds, on the other end of the spectrum my employer UPS seem to have ther acft off the ground in less than 15 minutes normally. Now I am talking at peak times with our widebodies heading overseas. Do you know the reason for this? Airport layout, Cargo prefererance?
Thanks

I've never looked at UPS' PHL ops closer than rolling down 27L, so don't really know. Departure times together with being going overseas would be my guess, since most of the ground holds (not just waiting in line) are due to either ATC congestion in the NE airspace or conditions at the airport at the other end of the flight.

Jim

 

[diogenes]

My 2c worth.

When they bring the brass (make sure Doug and Kirby get a shot) to PHL to fix it, if they don't, fire them.

This was the problem when Paladini and Crellin were supposed to fix PHL a few years back - they kept them!

For whomever fixes PHL, make them CEO - they earned it.

Brass always talks about the competitive environment - I say put up or shut up!

 

[SpinDoc]

about a year ago this same topic came up, and the response from the front line was not enough staffing or equipment on the ramp. It seems thats all the compan has done since then is hire and buy equipment. Now the story seems to be its the airports fault, old and decrepid. Whats the problem staffing, equipment(that employees destroy themselves), or aiport?

The problems that come from PHL are deep rooted, and mostly involve lack of leadership from management. Whether we like it or not, PHL is what it is, and the best way to fix it is to understand the mentality of the average agent.

The average agent who chooses a new career with US in PHL is young, undereducated, and comes from a broken home. The kids that are being enticed to work for $9.85/hr have grown up with no guidance or expectations from their parent/family, and because working for US is often their first real job, they consider it a social engagement rather than a career move. Management needs to recognize this fact first and foremost, and provide the proper guidance to mold and coach these employees to get the most out of them.

I worked in PHL for the better part of a year as a manager, and the first thing I noticed is that the agents want to do a good job, but they absolutely will NOT do that unless they are shown respect and given proper guidance. It's similar to a pack of dogs with no leader. If there is no leadership, the dogs will be social animals and will follow their natural instincts, ie the pack. If there is a strong pack leader (manager) willing to lead them, they will follow the example of the leader as long as they are respected by the leader.

There is a great deal of animosity between managers and agents in PHL, and most of the problems are caused by managers who are too aggressive with agents, and are not willing to put in the time to shape and properly coach the agents to realize their maximum potential. The hammer has been used far too often to correct behavior, when far less harmful tactics can be used to "manage" the behavior of the agents. When I departed from PHL, I had the respect of my agents, and they worked their butts off because I showed them the respect they deserved, and I provided the leadership they needed to succeed.

 

[PHL Approach]

9- fix the baggage belt at A west

Which?

There is a great deal of animosity between managers and agents in PHL, and most of the problems are caused by managers who are too aggressive with agents

Ding, Ding, Ding!

That can be said for two guys at Intl. Only them two... We like all the other guys because they actually treat us like humans and are very humble and don't act like they know everything!

 

[philly rocks]

Two guys at int'l? Ding, ding, ding?

Where do you work re-check? Man are you out of the loop. We may only have TWO good managers in the bunch!

 

[700UW]

RampRogue,

No airline can fly LAX-LGA or LGA-LAX, the Port Authority Perimeter rule prohibits flights that long.

 

[phillyphlyer]

I agree with everything Philly Rocks said plus I want to add somethings.....from the Intl viewpoint we are on a driverless bus carrening down the highway heading for the cliff....

First we have to get rid of Grantham...he is arrogant and has done NOTHING to improve conditions in PHL...I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen him in Intl and when he does come he talks to noone..just stands there talking to another suit aloof and remote.....

Bring back Sabre...we cant say that enough..you have no idea until you have worked a shift(partime) from 3:00 in the afternoon til 3:00am on a bad night...misconnex up the yin yang and you are hamstrung writing FIms and yes I try the invol reroute but it doesnt work for all airlines...

There is no sense of teamwork anymore...an aircraft arrvs and it takes 3 hours for it to be cleaned and catered...we as agts call the tower but what more can we do..now I have to explain to the cust....a malaise has settled over us because nobody is listening..they talk the talk but dont walk the walk...after you here "I"ll look into it a hundred times you adopt the attitude of ok they dont care why should I


Also rework the schedule...last night we had fifteen doestic departures from A west and east!!!!!these are domestic in and out..they have no busines being in the Intl terminal...we dont have the gates or the staff to work these flts...I'm stuck on a DCA flt while SNN has no one working it

And last WE NEED AIRPLANES....everynite we have at least 2 broken a/c and I mean broken...like engine problems or hydraulics or oil leaks...not quick fixes..and where do you thing all the parts are for these a/c??????Of course they are in CLT..thats makes sense to me..Its been this way from the time I started...the majority of the wide body flts leave from PHL but we keep the parts in CLt....so then we have to ferry parts to PHL to fix them...smart move...we have a huge hanger here in PHL and its EMPTY....


We need some here who will be visible but not intimidating...someone who will listen and acually act on some of the things that need to be done

 

[nycbusdriver]

It looks like Tempe is finally taking the bull by the horns and getting these decision makers into PHL to fix the problems there once and for all.





NOT!

A few thoughts come to mind, though. I wonder if these TDY "managers" will get to stay at the dumpy Holiday Inn that the crews have to endure? Unlikely. And this would be the first indication for me that little is likely to change. Why? No respect for the employees. This undermines everything that Tempe tries.

Second, as far as the ramp is concerned (from a pilot standpoint,) I find the PHL situation spotty. Often I get very prompt service. But when it's bad, it is unbelievably bad. I don't blame the rampers one bit. USAirways gets what it pays for. All the new rampers are well aware that their airline job can be easily replaced elsewhere, so why hustle? The job isn't worth the extra effort to keep, and they are all fully aware of the difficulties USAirways is having filling those positions. Raise the pay so the employees value the job. Simple. (Will never happen.)

Doogie, Scottie and "Flex" Bular need to discreetly find themselves for several days at the PHL Airport Marriott with top floor, airport facing rooms, armed with radio receivers for the ops, ramp, load, and maintenance frequencies. This would be a very enlightening experience. At least they would get to see why their management skills are non-existant. The only way this would work is if they flew to a nearby city and rented a car to get to PHL (so no one in PHL would know of their presence.) If the word gets out that they are listening, the operation might magically begin to work properly once the word is out that the big shots are listening (BTW, it really CAN work properly...it's just there is normally no motivation to make it work properly.)

 

[b737200]

The problems that come from PHL are deep rooted, and mostly involve lack of leadership from management. Whether we like it or not, PHL is what it is, and the best way to fix it is to understand the mentality of the average agent.

The average agent who chooses a new career with US in PHL is young, undereducated, and comes from a broken home. The kids that are being enticed to work for $9.85/hr have grown up with no guidance or expectations from their parent/family, and because working for US is often their first real job, they consider it a social engagement rather than a career move. Management needs to recognize this fact first and foremost, and provide the proper guidance to mold and coach these employees to get the most out of them.

I worked in PHL for the better part of a year as a manager, and the first thing I noticed is that the agents want to do a good job, but they absolutely will NOT do that unless they are shown respect and given proper guidance. It's similar to a pack of dogs with no leader. If there is no leadership, the dogs will be social animals and will follow their natural instincts, ie the pack. If there is a strong pack leader (manager) willing to lead them, they will follow the example of the leader as long as they are respected by the leader.

There is a great deal of animosity between managers and agents in PHL, and most of the problems are caused by managers who are too aggressive with agents, and are not willing to put in the time to shape and properly coach the agents to realize their maximum potential. The hammer has been used far too often to correct behavior, when far less harmful tactics can be used to "manage" the behavior of the agents. When I departed from PHL, I had the respect of my agents, and they worked their butts off because I showed them the respect they deserved, and I provided the leadership they needed to succeed.

I agree with you although I would not refer to them as dogs.
If management would go back to the philosify of hiring people who are looking at making a career in this biz and start paying wages you could raise a family on, things would turn around. Alot of folks are not org. phl workers
most commute because the like there job. The bottom line is....... parker wont't invest in the company's number one resource......... you and me. Until they realize this the same results will remain. Phl rampers and inside agents work hard...just think what it would be like if they didn't. Hope the company web snooper takes this back to parker......... remember an airline is like a football team... stick with the basics and you will get winning results.

 

[Ramp Rogue]

RampRogue,

No airline can fly LAX-LGA or LGA-LAX, the Port Authority Perimeter rule prohibits flights that long.

If you would have read my post completely, you would have noticed that I wrote in it, just for you I might add that they were examples. Do you understand EXAMPLES? Examples that were not meant for you to disect, because everyone knows about the LGA and DCA situation. Everyone else got the point, but not you. I can see why you get in so many verbal altercations on this board. You have too much tunnel vision.