PIT Post-Gazette Letter to the Editor- 8/26/07

[songbirdstew]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07238/811976-110.stm


Why has airline thrust travelers into Philly chaos?

I believe it is time for US Airways to (finally) explain its perplexing decision to make Filthadelphia a "hub" airport, while removing the same distinction from Pittsburgh.

As Pittsburgh has well under half the direct flights it once had, it is now necessary for Pittsburgh travelers to "connect" through Philly to reach most of their East Coast destinations. I know I speak for all Pittsburgh travelers when I echo the anxiety and nausea that comes with flying in and out of the Philly airport.

Is there a worse-run airport in the country? I seriously doubt it. The flights are rarely on time, the staff is uneducated and rude, and there is a general sense of confusion running amok in the airport. I found it ironic that Philadelphia's own paper has finally begun to report how poorly run the airport is (Philadelphia Inquirer story "Frustration Takes Off Among Air Travelers," Aug. 20).

I challenge US Airways to explain why it has abandoned Pittsburgh for the nightmare that is Philly. In contrast to Philly, every time you fly into Pittsburgh you have wide-open runways and generally fast-moving service. In short, instead of using what was once (and still is close to) the best airport in America, US Airways crams its entire East Coast operations into what has to be one of the worst.

DEAN FALAVOLITO
Carnegie

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

Please stop the madness! PIT is not as important as some would think it is. Please stop. There are perhaps hundreds of posts to explain why PIT is no longer Mecca. Please use search function.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Link to the story:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage..._travelers.html

Frustration takes off among air travelers
Finally make it through Phila. airport security? You’re still a long way from getting airborne.
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer

It looked like the worst line in the history of lines.

Like 1960s-era Soviets waiting for bread, passengers created a near-endless queue at the security checkpoint in Terminal D of Philadelphia International Airport at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Dismay had its place in line, as did panic and anger. If unhappiness were rain, a monsoon would have soaked the blue carpet.......

 

[songbirdstew]

Please stop the madness! PIT is not as important as some would think it is. Please stop. There are perhaps hundreds of posts to explain why PIT is no longer Mecca. Please use search function.

So, I need to ask...you DON'T think PHL is a nightmare ?????

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

So, I need to ask...you DON'T think PHL is a nightmare ?????

Follow the money. And as an after thought.. there were many bases that contributed more to the bottom line that were closed.
As far as operational viablity?(better weather placing airplnes for the next day...etc)- there were many other bases that would be more suitable to running a better operation-that were closed. When at one time you had 5 bases within 500 miles of each other-that was madness. Pit unfortunately is now suffering the draw down that many have suffered before for example: BWI,MIA,LAX,SFO,LAX,SAN,SYC? who have I left out? Enjoy the time left. Some of us know what the writing on the wall looks like.

 

[songbirdstew]

Follow the money. And as an after thought.. there were many bases that contributed more to the bottom line that were closed.
As far as operational viablity?(better weather placing airplnes for the next day...etc)- there were many other bases that would be more suitable to running a better operation-that were closed. When at one time you had 5 bases within 500 miles of each other-that was madness. Pit unfortunately is now suffering the draw down that many have suffered before for example: BWI,MIA,LAX,SFO,LAX,SAN,SYC? who have I left out? Enjoy the time left. Some of us know what the writing on the wall looks like.

Don't forget GSO, I was there until they closed it. PIT however did get the new ops center and still does a lot of maintenance...we're down but we're not out---at least not yet. Just my opinion but I think it's cheaper to have a small base there than pay for RON hotels for a lot of crews.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

I don't mean to bust anyone's B*lls but this arguemnt has grown cold. We all wish for the "good old days" but please... we have what we have. Let's move on.
And as far as I can tell the Post-Gazette has never been a friend of the U.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

I don't mean to bust anyone's B*lls but this arguemnt has grown cold. We all wish for the "good old days" but please... we have what we have. Let's move on.
And as far as I can tell the Post-Gazette has never been a friend of the U.

It's a Letter to The Editor, not an editorial.

And this argument never grows cold. The flames are fanned everytime Tempe screws more passengers.

You give up too easily. Do what I'm doing: lie in wait patiently.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

The only problem I have with your many insightful statements is that in some ways it denigrates all the sacrifices that many others have made through the years. There is only now. The should have ,would have, could have, stuff falls on deaf ears to the ones who have been taken advantage of in the past. (Project High Ground) What I am saying is that past stations have complained no where near as much as PIT. It's operational ability is without question. Does it fit in to an operational plan is the question. Many others in the past have not been part of the plan.

 

[missthe727]

Follow the money. And as an after thought.. there were many bases that contributed more to the bottom line that were closed.
As far as operational viablity?(better weather placing airplnes for the next day...etc)- there were many other bases that would be more suitable to running a better operation-that were closed. When at one time you had 5 bases within 500 miles of each other-that was madness. Pit unfortunately is now suffering the draw down that many have suffered before for example: BWI,MIA,LAX,SFO,LAX,SAN,SYC? who have I left out? Enjoy the time left. Some of us know what the writing on the wall looks like.

Man are you angry or what that your previous base was closed...that's the only thing I can figure out. If you did in fact experience a base closer then you know how painful it can be and I would think you would have a little bit more sympathy.
That being said.....let's look at the letter to the editor again. Take out the reference to PIT as the airport they SHOULD use and insert ANY other airport name that is well run. You could name any other airport in the country. Bottom line, PHL may make money but it makes pax and crews lives miserable. Yesterday I had 2 FF in F/C that said that they avoid PHL at all cost because US connecting them through PHL has made them miss meetings where they lost $$$$ for their companys.....it's getting to the point that if you connect through PHL you get same WEEK service....and no one in Tempe cares.

 

[debbieb]

It's a Letter to The Editor, not an editorial.

And this argument never grows cold. The flames are fanned everytime Tempe screws more passengers.

You give up too easily. Do what I'm doing: lie in wait patiently.

As a PIT passenger, I could accept moving the hub to PHL if it was operating efficiently. But it's not, I avoid it at all cost. It's gotten to the point where my patience is wearing thin - after years of US loyalty, I'm ready to move on to other airlines. I've accepted that it's not going to get better. If I'm going to have to connect anyway, I may as well find an airline with better customer service.

I read some leisure travel boards and threads come up asking advice about flying USAirways. Most of the replys are negative.

LCC is a joke. Over the weekend, I priced a trip to SFO. US was twice as much as Delta, both with connections (US through the dreaded PHL). Easy choice.

 

[Mike]

Link to the story:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage..._travelers.html

Frustration takes off among air travelers
Finally make it through Phila. airport security? You’re still a long way from getting airborne.
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer

It looked like the worst line in the history of lines.

Like 1960s-era Soviets waiting for bread, passengers created a near-endless queue at the security checkpoint in Terminal D of Philadelphia International Airport at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Dismay had its place in line, as did panic and anger. If unhappiness were rain, a monsoon would have soaked the blue carpet.......

Term D has Southwest and Air Tran. Seems no airline is spared the pain in Philly.

 

[Travels2mch]

And as far as I can tell the Post-Gazette has never been a friend of the U.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/b...pe_N.htm?csp=34

Neither has USA Today.......read any Philly, Charlotte or Phoenix newspapers?? I love how when US
F%&ks up and the PG reports on it, these idiots blame the newspaper.

 

[AstroLounge]

Man are you angry or what that your previous base was closed...that's the only thing I can figure out. If you did in fact experience a base closer then you know how painful it can be and I would think you would have a little bit more sympathy.
That being said.....let's look at the letter to the editor again. Take out the reference to PIT as the airport they SHOULD use and insert ANY other airport name that is well run. You could name any other airport in the country. Bottom line, PHL may make money but it makes pax and crews lives miserable. Yesterday I had 2 FF in F/C that said that they avoid PHL at all cost because US connecting them through PHL has made them miss meetings where they lost $$$$ for their companys.....it's getting to the point that if you connect through PHL you get same WEEK service....and no one in Tempe cares.

You hit the nail on the head by stating "PHL makes money but it makes pax and crew miserable" and THAT is EXACTLY the CRUX of the Argument. PHL is capable of operating a smaller scale O&D HUB OPERATION on its own utilizing smaller a/c if so be it. But what MANY people (employees and customers) DO NOT understand is WHY Route All those connecting pax into a facility that CAN'T handle it and create aviation's BIGGEST CLUSTER*? I was based in PIT for years and the airport would be hard pressed to ever find ANYONE to say it was poorly run. Travelling thru PIT was a pleasant travel experience......customer friendly and great employees. Not only does an airline move people from point A-to-B but generally some level of customer service is expected. PIT can DELIVER on all Fronts........PHL can Not, will not and now most people will avoid PHL at all costs. It's called the "PHILLY FACTOR"......pax in THE KNOW say NO (well some probably say F*ck No ). And to set the record straight, I enjoyed working out of the PIT facility. Living in PIT was a different story, it wasn't for me........so let's NOT intertwine the issue for SENTIMENTAL REASONS.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

The only problem I have with your many insightful statements is that in some ways it denigrates all the sacrifices that many others have made through the years. There is only now. The should have ,would have, could have, stuff falls on deaf ears to the ones who have been taken advantage of in the past. (Project High Ground) What I am saying is that past stations have complained no where near as much as PIT. It's operational ability is without question. Does it fit in to an operational plan is the question. Many others in the past have not been part of the plan.

Whereas I'm having a hard time following your argument, I don't believe I'm denigrating anyone's sacrifices in any way concerning the PIT operation. You might be hard-pressed to find anyone here who complains more about how PIT has been tossed aside in the grand design (okay...maybe Mr. Neutron, but I digress...)

And I agree with you, BCWYWF. No one in Tempe wants to listen to the arguments in favor of connecting more passengers through PIT because the concept of a "second right answer" is an alien concept to the frat boys that continue to make up excuses as to why it can't be done, all the while citing pseudo-facts without backing them up on paper. That last sentence is one of the best run-ons I've ever crafted, BTW.

PIT complains, and I in particular, because we can do the job, we want the job, and the passengers want the product to improve. We don't fit into Dougweiser and Scotch's plan because they don't want it to fit. Watch the crew news from August 7th and see how disappointed the pilots and F/A's are with the operation in PHL, then see how DoUgIe tries to spin the problems toward ATC, culture surveys and training. It's laughable, and he laughs a lot in the videos instead of taking things seriously. Is he nervous? Is he confused? Is he deluded? Yes to all three (my opinion). He sends people to PHL to "fix" the station, but I don't see him or Kirby showing up in person and getting their hands dirty. They just sit comfortably in Tempe, wait for employees in training to show up, and then waste your time with an inability to answer questions without a Greek chorus to contribute comments.

Back to the post: I've said this group is greedy and short-sighted. I don't have to prove much because it's self-evident in their statements and actions (or lack thereof). If anyone is guilty of denigrating the sacrifices that employees EVERYWHERE SYSTEMWIDE have made, you need look no further than the executive biography page of the US website.