Question About Maa

[Air conditioned]

The website class schedules have indeed only been updated once per month and they have updated them late in the month each time. The October classes will no doubt be posted sometime after the 13th.

[post="174508"][/post]​

The folks in charge at MAA said that all of the classes through the end of the year should be posted within the next several weeks. That would be great, so people could have time to prepare, knowing what month they will be going to class.

As far as numbers go, that is an interesting question. Does anyone know how many flight attendants there are now and also how many pilots? There really should be somewhere people can go on the Hub or elsewhere to keep tabs on progress. <_<

 

[Light Years]

The aircraft say US AIRWAYS EXPRESS on the fuselage and then by the door it says MidAtlantic Airways Operated by US Airways by the door. Duh. US Airways Express MidAtlantic Airways Operated by US Airways, which technically is US Airways (Embraer Division). MidAtlantic Airways does not exist, its nothing more than a name to make a part of the airline feel like an Express carrier. Why not just call it, hmm, US AIRWAYS?

The Express brand is ridiculously inconsistent. Customers rave about the 170 and how they like them better than the mainline planes, but then it'll be a letdown when thier next "Express" flight is on a Beechcraft 1900, which you could stow in the Embraers forward closet.

The flight numbers are mainline which means on usairways.com and boarding passes they show up as US Airways. Hardly any of the crews or agents say Express in thier announcements.

Its also caused alot of headaches for employees jumpseating and non-revving who encounter clueless mainline employees who have no idea that "MAA" employees are mainline employees. It would do alot more for morale for everyone if they would stop trying to make it what its not.

 

[Air conditioned]

Light Years,
I agree with you whole heartedly. I still don't understand why they insist on the huge and obvious separation between the Embraer division and the other mainline division. It HAS to be confusing to the customers, who aren't really clear on the difference in the first place, except that Express normally means "the smaller planes" (their words not mine). <shrug>

I did hear that MAA employees were not going to have wear Express on their hats and wings much longer. I guess that is a start. I sure hope so. Everyone there worked very hard to get them...

I was told that letters of recall were not sent to the last two classes of 2001; they were only sent through April 01. Is there truth to this? Boy, it sure didn't take them long to go through that list huh? I guess lots of people just gave up on the whole idea. Should be interesting to see the final numbers of those that took the recall. :unsure: :huh:

 

[Rico]

Why the "Express" on the side of the plane...?

IMHO it has less to do with how Midatlantic (or PSA for that matter) is operated, and more to do with the CWA/IAM working MDA.

Can you say "Mainline Express"...?

Add the 90 seaters, also with "Express" painted on the side, and the the number of stations that can be retooled to "Mainline Express" will only increase.

 

[Light Years]

The product is more than competitive, but the titles drag it down perception wise. The customers dont need to know that the pilots do the weight and balance and the F/As cross seatbelts. That doesnt make it Express.

Particularly if they get the 90 seater, the titles are a liability. There are many folks who would prefer the US EMB product over a competitors 737, DC9 or MD80, but may be put off of even trying it when they see the Express designation, particularly in a new market. Aviation folks dont care, but many, many people book around Express, even if its an RJ. A relative of mine was subjected to a very long CoEx flight and now refuses to buy a ticket on anything called Express, Connection, Eagle, or Airlink.

Also, unlike most "Express" flights, the US EMB product has:

* No valet bag check.
* Jetway access at all stations.
* Wider seats and more legroom than any other coach seat in the mainline fleet, with adjustable headrests.
* Overhead bins capable of fitting most rollaboard bags.
* More underseat stowage per passenger than on Express or even mainline flights.
* 2 Cabin crewmembers.
* Large lavatories with baby-changing tables and running water.
* Catering is identical to mainline with the exception of liqour. MAA flights also offer Tomato Juice, Bloody Mary Mix, fruit slices and other hot and cold beverages that arent part of the Express brand.
* With the exception of PHL, E170 flights operate out the "mainline" gates at the hubs and focus cities as opposed to Express gates.
* E170 staffing are all mainline employees, joined by owned Express subsidiary employees. Not that the public knows that, but we all know that you're probably not going to confuse an MAA F/A with, say, a Mesa one.
* Although it's a single cabin, US had no problem flying former Shuttle planes under the mainline brand for quite awhile.

The only reasoning for Express titles is psychologically, for the employees. It's not worth alienating the customer base from an excellent, industry-leading product to make an already voluntary group of employees feel inferior.

 

[Rico]

I agree with you LY, the product we offfer at Midatlantic IS heads above the norm for Express and more importantly what our competition is able to offer. But that is a result of three things.

1. MDA is simply Mainline pretending to be Express, not an Express company pretrending to be Mainline
2. The people at MDA make the diff, as you pointed out, all from mainline or a owned subsidiary of Airways.
3. The plane... There is nothing to compare, and while we are the sole operator we have a advantage over the competition.

IMO The passenger perspective that matters most is how safe and professional MDA is, not if it is Express or Mainline:
Do you realize that Midatlantic has the youngest fleet of any carrier in the nation...? MDA also as THE most experienced flight crews on average of any "express" or "connection" carrier... MDA is also the only express carrier with crews trained by mainline instructors, at mainline facilities, and on mainline procedures.

The plane itself is state of the art when it comes to safety innovation with enhanced GPWS, next generation fly by wire technology, GPS navigation, and Honeywell Primus Avionics.

Basically, the customer perceptions are being more than met with a safe, comfortable, and superior product. The "express" on the side of the aircraft confuses them only because their expectations are being exceeded by MDA. I would say that is a good thing.

But like I said before, MDA is just Mainline pretending to be Express. There is no reason that they "have" to place Express on the 170's, but they choose to do so IMO for labor issues alone, not in regard towards customer perception.

 

[Rico]

Put it this way, imagine if they continue to add 170's, and they do place the EMB-190 on the property, at MidAtlantic, with "Express" painted on the side...

Well, that would mean a lot more stations that could be changed to "Mainline Express", and that is just the current stations. Add in new destinations, and you see their advantage increase. Open it as a "MidAtlantic" station, or simply contract out services to work those flights.

Passengers (in general) just want to "win" what I call the "window lottery"..., in which all but the most savvy find out what they will be taking from point A to B only when they first gaze out the terminal window to see what awaits them.

Other than real small cities, they still have the expectation to see a large aircraft when they look out that window. That is the key to the 170..., It looks, acts, and feels "big", while RJ's still give off a small plane image, and turboprops appear to be WWII vintage.

When that expectation can be met, in larger markets, and capacity better matches the larger demand... Then many current, and more importantly future market segments can be handled by the E-Jets.

Because survival might be the name of the game today, but growth is the only path to success into the future. E-Jets will support the transformation, and then fuel future expansion of the Mainline. THAT is the reason Express is painted on the aircraft side.

 

[700UW]

By replacing Mainline flying with Express you are not growing, you are shrinking and on a % basis increasing your CASMs.

US has gotten rid of several 737s this year.

 

[Rico]

The point is that they are placing "Express" on the side to end run around specific labor concerns. (Read = non negotiating labor groups). Said cost savings will allow current competitive advantage (Read = Midatlantic) to grow.

That growth feeds "Mainline" Growth, for as capable as the EMB-170 and 190 are, they cannot perform the entire mission profile of larger narrowbodies, and esp not perform the mission profiles of widebodies.

Something in writing to guarantee such, no.

Economic reality, yeah.

Which do you think matters most in the long run. Economic pressure can either work in favor or against Labor. I for one would like to see it working for us for a change.

It is no secret that this is the direction things are headed. Where "Express" will handle the majority of domestic flying, and "Mainline" will handle the transcon and international flying.

So many people on here complain how management has not managed to make us an industry leader or competitive, while at the same time griping about any effort to retool this company from the status quo.

Post-Transformation costs will decrease with the combination of growth/realingment, and the substantial lowering of overhead, both at MDA, and Mainline.

Probably not a growth of fleet service positions, but again, that is why they painted "Express" on the side of the aircraft.

Oh, and BTW, as important as CASM is, it is RASM that matters most.

 

[DCAflyer]

I was told that letters of recall were not sent to the last two classes of 2001; they were only sent through April 01. Is there truth to this? Boy, it sure didn't take them long to go through that list huh? I guess lots of people just gave up on the whole idea. Should be interesting to see the final numbers of those that took the recall. :unsure: :huh:

[post="175024"][/post]​

Absolutely no truth to this. An offer letter was sent even the most junior mainline flight attendant.

 

[Air conditioned]

Absolutely no truth to this. An offer letter was sent even the most junior mainline flight attendant.

[post="175849"][/post]​

DCAflyer,
Thanks for the info. Do you have any idea as to the number of furloughees who accepted the recall?

 

[Phoenix]

The point is that they are placing "Express" on the side to end run around specific labor concerns. (Read = non negotiating labor groups). Said cost savings will allow current competitive advantage (Read = Midatlantic) to grow.

That growth feeds "Mainline" Growth, for as capable as the EMB-170 and 190 are, they cannot perform the entire mission profile of larger narrowbodies, and esp not perform the mission profiles of widebodies.

Something in writing to guarantee such, no.

Economic reality, yeah.

Which do you think matters most in the long run. Economic pressure can either work in favor or against Labor. I for one would like to see it working for us for a change.

It is no secret that this is the direction things are headed. Where "Express" will handle the majority of domestic flying, and "Mainline" will handle the transcon and international flying.

So many people on here complain how management has not managed to make us an industry leader or competitive, while at the same time griping about any effort to retool this company from the status quo.

Post-Transformation costs will decrease with the combination of growth/realingment, and the substantial lowering of overhead, both at MDA, and Mainline.

Probably not a growth of fleet service positions, but again, that is why they painted "Express" on the side of the aircraft.

Oh, and BTW, as important as CASM is, it is RASM that matters most.

[post="175450"][/post]​

Etc. etc. etc....

All the analysis in the world still comes down to this. They will live in bigger houses. Labor will live in smaller trailers.

That is what "Exrpess, MidAtlantic, a division of US Airways, operated by former Mainlinepaid employees, who have been disenfranchised with the acquiescence of their fellow employees who are sorta still Mainlinepaid, but all hate the new realityâ€￾ means.

 

[DCAflyer]

DCAflyer,
Thanks for the info. Do you have any idea as to the number of furloughees who accepted the recall?

[post="176104"][/post]​

Well, that's a darn good question. So I did a random sampling of the last class to go through Carnot (Class 2001-05, with a hire date of 6/25/01). I simply didn't have time to go further up the list, because it involved writing down employee numbers and manually entering each number. Based on my random sampling of 68 of the 102 remaining on the seniority list from that class, 35 percent responded to the offer letter. Now remember, there were three options: (1) accept training now; (2) pass now and remain open for an additional training offer; and (3) pass on all opportunities at MDA. There is no way for me to know how each individual responded, but one would think that the majority responded with either option 1 or 2, since those wanting to take a permanent pass could save 37 cents postage by not responding and that effectively accomplishes option 3.

I have a couple of questions and maybe PitBull or someone else well connected can answer them.

(1) When will MDA training shift from Carnot to CLT?

(2) I know at this point a one-week training is provided. However, wouldn't it be prudent to give some enhanced level of training to those who have been on furlough for more than a couple of years. For instance, in particular, the 478 terminated probationaries turned furloughees... those folks in particular got in very very little flying time and practical experience before losing their jobs. Clearly, much of what was learned in new-hire training may have been lost. One week seems like a very short time to learn a new aircraft, recertify on Airbus, 737, 757, and 767 (and perhaps initial certification on the A-330?) as well as all of the new post-9/11 information which must be reviewed. Personally, I would like to see CRP and first aid recertification.

 

[Phoenix]

Additional INFO on Mid Atlantic:


If the Current Company Proposal passes, then 35% of Mainline will be tranfered to the new division of Mainline.

Yes, 35% of the jobs will "move" to the new division that is called Mainline but pays Express pay.

 

[atlantis]

Additional INFO on Mid Atlantic:
If the Current Company Proposal passes, then 35% of Mainline will be tranfered to the new division of Mainline.

Yes, 35% of the jobs will "move" to the new division that is called Mainline but pays Express pay.

[post="176236"][/post]​

oh my lord. so does that mean that those mainline people have to go work at midatlantic or either they have to quit. <?
can the company do that to people.

plus that is a big pay cut for a lot of people isnt it. how many people would want to do that. those many people are used to having blocks if they are crew and having a certain lifestyle that they are used to having, like lots more money right, so why would they wnat to go to midatlantic.<?