PHX airport needs power outlets !

[TheNewUSAirways]

My complaint about about the PHX airport is having two "A" concourses and two "B" concourses.

Is it too much to ask to rename them A, B, C, and D to make it easier to find your gate?

Is there alphabet shortage in Arizona?

Is it too much to ask to, oh I don't know . .look up at the signs that have gate numbers and arrows?

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Is it too much to ask to, oh I don't know . .look up at the signs that have gate numbers and arrows?

Wow! There it is, laid out for everyone. The reason US is no longer the airline of choice.

Force the customer to "do it the corporate way". Our way or else.

Perhaps it would be helpful for every US employee who considers themselves "a suit" to get off the golf course and try to walk a mile in the traveling public's shoes. Be critical.

If signage could be a problem, then, change it.

QIK is a horror show, to this day. Writing software with an eye for the user to do it the programmer's way or else is hardly the path to efficiency, but seems to be a clear symptom of what is wrong with tempe and all who consider it their office. Run from one end of the terminal to the other, full baggage compliment, stand in a roasting jetway, then board an aircraft for which the A/C has just been turned on, all in a suit. Oh, yeah, make it 14E.

When they are not cleaning Mr. Parker's and Mr. Kirby's clubs and balls, those clowns should really try to experience what a typical paying customer goes through, bring their findings to meetings involving the departments related to said deficiencies and fix it.

I would never stand for excuses and attempted misdirection like I see Mr. Parker perform each time he speaks. Force excellence, because, apparently, without prompting, those in charge seem incapable of self-motivation to better the environment, only taking care of themselves. Self discipline and accountability should be the gold standard in tempe, instead, it seems a lost art there, with the inevitable slide towards oblivion.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Wow! There it is, laid out for everyone. The reason US is no longer the airline of choice.

Quite a speech. It'd probably have more impact if delivered by someone that actually demonstrated that they had the traits of accountability and self discipline...

Jim

 

[Move2CLT]

Quite a speech. It'd probably have more impact if delivered by someone that actually demonstrated that they had the traits of accountability and self discipline...

Jim

Nice. Bravo.

 

[ChockJockey]

Wow! There it is, laid out for everyone. The reason US is no longer the airline of choice.

Force the customer to "do it the corporate way". Our way or else.

Perhaps it would be helpful for every US employee who considers themselves "a suit" to get off the golf course and try to walk a mile in the traveling public's shoes. Be critical.

If signage could be a problem, then, change it.

There's a difference between being critical and being obnoxious. 3/10 for theatrics.

I know it's very important for you to associate every perceived negative as a direct and personal fault of US Airways executive management, but the terminal is property of the City of Phoenix, and the gates and concourses were labeled by the city long before US Airways ever came to T4. Could US petition the city to change it? Sure they could, but whether or not the city wants to shell out the money to resign the terminal walkways, all the podiums on two concourses, the external lighted signage, the RID screens, and taxiway markings is another question entirely. This would be an expensive and time consuming project. I think they're focused on more important things, such as maintaining the moving walkways and constructing the grand people mover.

Let's turn this around and say US was trying to be proactive on this "problem" and were trying to get the concourses renamed. It's practically a given that the same people would come up with the same criticisms about US not being customer-focused because things were fine the way they were and since so many crews and custopax have been flying out of T4 for years and are used to the setup US would therefore be needlessly troubling and confusing them because Scott and Doug are jerks. Haters gon' hate.

Even the revered and holy WN (peace be upon it) has the same thing going on with their concourses on the other side of T4 and they don't seem to have a problem with it. Of the most serious problems that negatively impact the customer experience at PHX, signage falls well behind the others previously mentioned in this thread.

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Quite a speech. It'd probably have more impact if delivered by someone that actually demonstrated that they had the traits of accountability and self discipline...

So, you acknowledge that what was said was correct. Thanks. I guess.

Hey, I am just the brown jacketed fellow in the Rockwell painting, just trying to speak my piece. Any excuse you want to make concerning "impact" is yours alone and is certainly colored by your concern troll status (see, I lay my bias' right out on the table, unlike some of the ALPA lovers here).

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Let's turn this around and say US was trying to be proactive on this "problem" and were trying to get the concourses renamed. It's practically a given that the same people would come up with the same criticisms about US not being customer-focused because things were fine the way they were and since so many crews and custopax have been flying out of T4 for years and are used to the setup US would therefore be needlessly troubling and confusing them because Scott and Doug are jerks. Haters gon' hate.

Disgust is not the same as "hate". Sorry if you thought I "hate".

I think your characterization of the relationship between tempe and the airport authority is somewhat skewed. and, I was miffed about the comment that passengers should, somehow, know where to look for directions.

I have never had problems transiting the SW side. The tempe side is somewhat confusing, unless you happened to have local knowledge, your point about people who fly, first A&W and now US is well taken (why do they come back?). I think, the point is, signage should be there to help people and the attitude that if they would just know where to look - franky, suxs, I think you get where I am going with this.

As I said, those making the decisions should really be the people who get out, place themselves in their customers positions, and act from there. I believe it was the CEO of 3M who actually went to the factories and offices at 2,3 or 4 in the morning, just to talk with the midnight shift. Most well regarded corporations do the same. Has Parker ever shown up at 3:30 in the morning at the airport, just to shoot the ####? Heck, even Patton, as abrasive as he was, visited "his" men at odd hours.

So, we are supposed to go to "war" led by elitists who, frankly, would not know which end of a hammer to hold? Gordon Bethune knew better, he not only kept an "open door" policy but actually visited to the troops, at their jobs.

I am not disappointed at the elitists. I am, however, disappointed that the employee group I work with who, seemingly, will not hold "them" to a higher standard.

 

[flybynite]

Oh for gods sakes!!!! You guys drive me crazy!!!

PHX has it's issuses...

CLT has it's issuses............

Number one on my list is the carpet....it's shot...needs to be replaced.

Number two....ceiling tiles....they're shot...dirty...needs to be replaced also

Number three....wallpaper...awful...peeling off the wall...I'm hanging my head in shame....

Number four....Passenger seating...ripped up..in shreds...I can post pictures...

The CLT airport looks squaid(sp) and poor and yet we are raking in more money than most. I've had it.

 

[flybynite]

Oh for gods sakes!!!! You guys drive me crazy!!!

PHX has it's issuses...

CLT has it's issuses............

Number one on my list is the carpet....it's shot...needs to be replaced.

Number two....ceiling tiles....they're shot...dirty...needs to be replaced also

Number three....wallpaper...awful...peeling off the wall...I'm hanging my head in shame....

Number four....Passenger seating...ripped up..in shreds...I can post pictures...

The CLT airport looks squalid and poor and yet we are raking in more money than most. I've had it.

 

[freedom]

Yet another steaming thread for haters to buzz around like flies over dung. The same, pompous self-informed and laughingly predictable condemnations from the same usual suspect (and I don't mean freedom).


Agreed. I nominate you.



Actually, the very least we could do is complain about it anonymously on an online message board and expect mysterious, shadowy others to fix it for us. Any problem worth mentioning here is certainly a problem worth trying to solve, right? Who knows, it might even be fun. That way we can turn this thread into a productive, collaborative effort instead of the same bucket o' bitchin'.


Let us identify the problem:

There is a lack of working power outlets and power outlets overall in the N1, N2, N3, and N4 concourses of Terminal 4.

This is bad because:

• Custopax are unable to charge the devices they use for entertainment and work while flying since US has no real IFE to speak of.
• Custopax have to crowd uncomfortably around outlets or sit on the floor to use or charge these devices, detracting from their traveling experience.
• Custopax will be less willing to purchase in-flight WiFi service if their device isn't powered.
• Terminal tenants and contractors also use power outlets for daily airport operations.

The problem could be solved (to different degrees) by:

1. Introducing a customer-friendly solution such as charging stations that increase convenience and reduce frustration.
2. Simply increase the number of available power outlets in the terminal. Can some disused podiums be refurbished and equipped with additional outlets to create low-cost charging stations?
3. Only repair those outlets that are broken.

The only thing missing now is data. This will require some work. You will need:

• The number of custopax-accessible outlets in all four concourses.
• The number of those outlets that are not working (they will need to be tested)
• The number of available, working outlets (if any) during T4's daily maximum terminal occupancy.
• The percentage of custopax that use charging-dependent devices at the gate or in-flight (stuff like this might be online)
• An exploration of existing solutions elsewhere, specifically, how WN does it on the other side of T4.
• A survey of US CSR's who have the most exposure to the environment and their opinions on how big a problem they consider it.
• An online canvassing of custopax at other forums (anet, flyertalk?) about the solutions they've seen and why they liked them.

This information will give you a much improved idea of the problem, information that that is necessary and useful in solving it (since anecdotal accounts typically are not). Once you have the data you can compile a report or proposal or a super-RFA and send it (anonymously) to all responsible parties including the facilities people at US and COP and anyone else you can think of, and post it here too of course. If you are able to get the information listed above I will happily write this for you.

So I'm just putting this out there. If anyone else has any thoughts or ideas on how to go about this then by all means share. If people want to gleefully recount for the billionth all the ways US sucks they can take it elsewhere. There's an old saying, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". I like that. "Put up or shut up", that's a nice one too.

bravo , very well written post ..sadly i must decline the nomination to become the power outlet checker as that i only work below the wing ... but who knows , with such a well written and thought out post as this , maybe , just maybe someone in managment will do something ...

 

[ChockJockey]

Disgust is not the same as "hate". Sorry if you thought I "hate".

I think your characterization of the relationship between tempe and the airport authority is somewhat skewed. and, I was miffed about the comment that passengers should, somehow, know where to look for directions.

Haters gon' hate but scrubs won't fess. Ain't no thing, forums life is hard son.

I can only go by my own experience from flying out of, into, and through Terminal 4 before ever working for US Airways. What would happen is I'd check in and get a boarding pass. Printed on the boarding pass would be the departing gate. I would take the escalator up to security. After putting my shoes on belt back on I would exit security and look upwards, towards the ceiling. Mind you I did not look straight up, because that would have been too far to see the large, illuminated signage hanging from the ceiling.

The sign - which I believe I mentioned was (and is) large and illuminated - said "<--A15-30", "A1-A14 ^", and "B1-B28 -->". From this simple sign I was able to deduce that if my gate were, say, A27, I would turn left, and walk toward that direction. If my gate were A7, I'd continue walking forward until further signage would direct me on where to go next. There is such a sign at each security checkpoint and there are signs all down the concourses. I am not a clever man, but even I was able to find my gate in time with minimum difficulty. Now if this signage constitutes a customer service crisis then I think we should also look into lavatories that wipe our customer's bums for them, and invest in developing a telepathic beverage service. Written language should be entirely purged from the in-flight magazine; if people can't understand "<--A15-30" then they're only going to be insulted by full page articles.

I'm not arguing with your assessment of management, I just think the signage issue is not illustrative of the point you are trying to make. Sky Harbor, "America's Friendliest Airport" (lol), is constantly soliciting opinion and feedback from fliers and employees. The airport, which is self-funding, must operate within a budget. If they don't consider it a serious enough issue to commit tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to address then they'll use those funds elsewhere (ideally for repairing power outlets). Saying that something must be changed to improve the customer experience at any cost makes for great rhetoric, but for an operation with finite revenue, myriad needs and infinite wants it's simply not realistic.

I think we can all agree that our elitist executives are devil-worshiping alcoholics that torture small animals in their spare time. If I've furthered skewed the characterization of the relationship Tempe has with COP I'd love to hear yours. Also, as per your disappointment, how specifically should I/we hold "them" to a higher standard? Does it go beyond posting my disgust in anonymous online rants? Maybe become party to some legal spat that lasts the greater part of a decade? Things like that are super effective right? You're not an East pilot are you? I hope not, I don't think I could take the irony...

 

[N965VJ]

I think we can all agree that our elitist executives are devil-worshiping alcoholics that torture small animals in their spare time.

Not all animals; I hear they're quite fond of mediocrity-embracing surrender monkeys.

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Haters gon' hate but scrubs won't fess. Ain't no thing, forums life is hard son.

<snip>

Printed on the boarding pass would be the departing gate.

Don't understand the first part.

On the second. Full stop.

I get asked at least once each time I am at an airport, from the tempe designed? boarding pass, what gate the flight departs from.

Yes, it is on the tear-away tag, in smallish print. I do know where to look for it and, presuming no further tricks on gate changes, etc. would likely find my gate.

Contrast that in Europe where the terminals consist of a core that has been added on during the decades, I have never yet gotten lost. Well, except once when ogling the KLM FAs when we got our flight plans at KLM operations. I was distracted. Yeah, that was it.

My rant will likely never solve anything, other than helping a few notice something that, maybe, they can change. I don't live near PHX and transit through a couple of times a month. I do notice user interfaces that could use some help and would not consider PHX all that customer friendly, seems the evaluation was a little stacked.