Questions For Usa320pilot

[FlyingHippie]

mr, I've read what the company wants from the employees and I'll tell you it is not going to happen. I've come to the conclusion it's over. There's never been a company ask so much of their employees and succeed, it's just never happened. This may have worked out in another time but given the current state of the airline industry, cut throat competition, sky high fuel, an aging workforce and what are the odds that this is going to have a happy ending? I guess it will be full pay to the last day.

 

[delldude]

deleted

ah ha haha

 

[PITMTC]

There's never been a company ask so much of their employees and succeed, it's just never happened.

Did you know anyone at Continental during which they went through similar times? A couple of bk's and many concessions, a lot of them against the will of their employees. They are still around.

 

[FlyingHippie]

Did you know anyone at Continental during which they went through similar times? A couple of bk's and many concessions, a lot of them against the will of their employees. They are still around.

Different animal. Totally different market forces plus they kept their pensions intact, unlike here. Yeah, CO employees gave up a lot and have done well. But, compared to here, no comparison. CO didn't have Southwest, Jetblue, AirTran and ACA pecking at them from every corner. Just have your resume ready.

 

[funguy2]

funnyguy, there is a limit of not less that 279 jets and a bottom limit on the number of hours the company must fly. They must fly x number of hours. That protects us from having 279 jets but only flying each of them 2 hours per day. There is no limit on the upper end on either the number of jets or hours.

Thanks... I've heard the min aircraft number tossed around a lot. I did not know there was a min block hour provision as well. That is actually good protection by ALPA for its members. (It also makes sense for the company.)

 

[seeking the truth]

Hammerhead,
Great attitude, take as many jobs as you can. Hope the company realizes this and keeps dumping more work your way. At the end of the day when the doors close (very good chance), you'll be out looking for your next job with the other 27000-28000. See if the company recognizes you then !!!



Maybe management has begun to heed !!!!!

 

[700UW]

Did you know anyone at Continental during which they went through similar times? A couple of bk's and many concessions, a lot of them against the will of their employees. They are still around.

Yep, Lorenzo did such a great job it forced Congress to change the Bankruptcy laws, ban him from ever running an airline because of that and Eastern and CAL had to file again.

 

[sfb]

USA320Pilot answers: US Airways has begun the proposed changes by de-peaking the Philadelphia hub, utilizing Philadelphia's runway 17/35, adding more Caribbean/European long haul flights, and on June 12 restoring the last bank on Saturday nights in Pittsburgh.

...

By the way, for those who believe the new business plan is not moving forward, I disagree. We may not like the plan, but MAA, EMB-170s, PSA CRJ-200s, affiliate RJs, the United alliance, the GoCaribbean alliance, the Star alliance, GoFares, increased Internet booking, more Kiosks, realigned CTO's, more transatlantic/Caribbean flying, improved Philadelphia baggage service, the new Philadelphia terminals, Philadelphia advertising campaign, and the new Philadelphia operational plan have all been implemented.

Most of this stuff was part of the OLD business plan, too. The new teminals at PHL were planned years ago during the Wolf/Gangwal era with an eye to regional and international expansion. The CLT International Terminal expansion was started several years ago, too. More RJ's (at affiliates) and larger RJ's (Gangwal's term in August, 2001 was "mainline RJ's") have been requested by management for years. The GoCaribbean alliance was launched almost exactly two years ago and increased Caribbean/European flying started during the Wolf/Gangwal days. The United/Star Alliance plan could arguably be said to have started back when the merger was announced in 2000, and US has bounced along with various alliances (BA, AA, etc.) over the years. Increased Internet booking isn't a choice; it's a necessity since just about every other airline out there seems to have been doing a better job of it.

Advertising in PHL, changing the operation to use 17-35, and GoFares aren't a business plan. They're a response to the facts that WN has been advertising heavily in PHL, WN has set the acceptable fare levels in the markets they serve from PHL, and WN planned to use 17-35 to limit its exposure to US's often-delayed operation. Fixing the baggage system was long-overdue and only happened because the company can't afford to tick off a bunch of customers who now have a realistic alternative in many domestic markets. More kiosks will help, but again US has been behind the curve. CO has had them for several years and most of the competition has been very aggressive in deploying kiosks. And as far as I can tell, any de-peaking of PHL has been minimal so far.

How exactly is restoring a bank of flights at PIT proof of the new business plan when the new plan supposedly reduces PIT to a focus city?

I don't mean to say that the company should have abandoned many of the improvements they've undertaken; my point is that there's very little which is "new" or that isn't simply a response to external conditions (i.e. WN adding 28 daily departures at PHL).

I must say that I agree with some others that it seems management's "plan" is to threaten the labor groups with the worst in order to extract the deepest possible concessions -- thus ensuring even greater profits in the future. After all, they claim to be able to save $700 million in non-labor expense, which is considerably more than analysts expect for the company's full year loss.

 

[BillLumbergh]

I think this one has run its course.