State Of The Airline

[UPNAWAY]

Every Employee should have a listen.

I will hit some of the highlights.

All AWA Plane painted in 06, US widebodys in 06 all the rest in 07.
New Uniforms are in the works expect an anouncement end of the year. Will reflect the companies biz casual approach.
No growth plans for now. Fleet, schedules and staff are about right sized. No more layoffs.
Growth 2-3 years out. Although an EMB 190 order is in the works.
Would like to upgrade the 50 seat RJs.
Could be profitable in 2006.
PHL makeover in the works, there is a PHL team headed by Anthony Mule, new equipment, extra staff.
They are going to be giving customer snacks and drinks during the holidays.
Anthony said PHL is the single most important area for the CO.
On Intl flying DP said PHL is by far the best city for a gateway. Short term they are going to make PHL work long term expect many improvements.
more later

 

[libertybell]

holding our breath! hope its true

 

[hack73]

Make PHL work,when?The holidays are coming up and PHL is so short of equipment and manpower that it could be a bigger meltdown than last year.

 

[robbedagain]

"AHH Dont Worry! Our Good Ole Uncle Al had things under control last year! He''ll have it under control again this year!!!"" :bleh:

 

[Walmartgreeter]

I had about twenty cute digs to add about PHL....but you know what? This seems like the real deal. BRAVO! At least Parker is going to give it a real run. The old U proved just about everyone wrong by hanging around. Maybe, just maybe, he can pull off a PHL revamp. Hopefully history will not repeat. Best. Greeter.

 

[a320av8r]

I dunno...
I went through PHL several times on this trip.
On time every time and folks seemed okay.
New CS agent being trained each time too.
Changes are a comin' even at PHL.


Okay- flame on!

 

[UPNAWAY]

Make PHL work,when?The holidays are coming up and PHL is so short of equipment and manpower that it could be a bigger meltdown than last year.

They have bought new equipment but also have leased some extra just for the holidays.
They have hired even more staff (he called it overstaffing) for the Holidays.
Things like painting and infustructrue will be addressed but those will come later.
Both AL, Anthony and DP said that significant captial will be used to "give the people in PHL
the tools they need to do the job that he knows they want to do".
Also, Doug mentioned training of front line sups and managers that they are empowered to make things work. He said I don't think we need to clean house, we just need to give them the tools to do the job and be
sure the managment understands that.
I think all US mgmt has a second chance, but they better get on board. If your just gonna be a "NO" person or a "we always do it this way" kind of manager you won't last long. DP is far less interested in "rules or by the book"and much more interested in getting the job done. At one point expressing some fustration at how slow some of the intergration is going he pleaded " don't get hung up on doing it perfect or trying to over analyzie it. Lets just do it, we can always make changes later, but we have to get going" (something to that effect) don't worry about making a wrong decision that will not get you fired, not making any decision becuase of old ways or culture may get you fired. That was his message IMHO.

 

[SSRinPHX]

I have to admit that is one thing I like about HP/ US West. (Still can't call it US West...I HATED that phone company! lol) You don't have absolute power, but you are empowered to make the decisions that NEED to be made on your own. Yeah, you may get called upstairs and asked about it, as I have been several times before, but in the end, as long as the powers that be believe you were acting in the best interest of the airline- no problem at all. (And believe me, I've made some DOOZIES before that I really thought I'd get kicked in the rear for.)

 

[delldude]

Growth 2-3 years out.

this is an old U strategy we've used in the past and it didn't work then and it won't now...we will be passed up and have to catch up.....this is a sad history lesson once again.... :down:

 

[drifterreno]

I'll tell you what--I think maybe we should think about adding some temporary help in PHL. Like some of us have nothing to do over the holidays and we remember when U asked their employees to come to PHL to work. Well, I for one am willing to volunteer to go to PHL to help out over the holidays. I have vacation time at that time of year right now, but could switch it if the company would give me a place to stay while there. How about it gang. We could show that we're really ready to work together and make this thing work.

 

[twoturnin]

Went through KPHL several times last week and ATC has been doing some new things-----line of weather was moving in----west and northbound flts were stacked on the east side of 35----out of the way of everyone else till their groundstop had expired---we zzzooooommed out of the gate and were gone in less than couple mins----I can only attribute this to SW raising H$LL--since nothing else happened till they showed up. Also ATC has been using 27R for departures and 27L for arrivals sometimes----probably another SW suggestion.

 

[UWCactus]

this is an old U strategy we've used in the past and it didn't work then and it won't now...we will be passed up and have to catch up.....this is a sad history lesson once again.... :down:

You sound like the ultimate pessimist. Growth for a brand new merged airline should not occur until the operation that AWA inherited is sound and customers have been given some attention. As much as I would like to see growth, I think we need to straighten things out before we add to the mix.

 

[UWCactus]

For those that did not listen to the webcast, here are a few other highlights:

-A city for international departures must have a strong local traffic, not made up of connecting traffic. This means that by far..PHL is the best hub city for international traffic. PHL is an extrememly important piece of this puzzle and they have teams of people working on improvements.


-As far as PHL traffic goes..in an effort to reduce misconnects due to congestion at PHL, they will work with the schedules to help anticipate delay history and make adjustments as needed.

-With current growth in Asia and the carriers in bankruptcy, look for more industry a/c headed to the Asian market, as opposed to staying in this country. A/C lessors can get more money in Asia right now, demand is greater. The current carries in bankruptcy are trying to do exactly what US did and that is right size their airline and bring costs down.

-As domestic capacity is reduced, look for international capacity to increase and it's quite possible in a few years, the industry will complain about over capacity in international flying, so international may be good for "right now" but not necessiarly in the future.



-No additional layoffs expected systemwide. However this may vary from time to time with various departments, but will hopefully work through attrition. The only area that seem to teetering on the edge with staffing are pilots and FA's, but no reductions at this point are forecast.

-FA Domciles should all stay about the same size and status quo for now, but with ongoing schedule changes (nothing dramatic), this will always be looked at from an ecomonic standpoint on an ongoing basis.

-They think the airline is "right sized" for now, no big fleet changes, no reductions, but look for a possibility of the 190's, negotiations are ongoing.

-PSA and Piedmont will continue to be at the size that currently are, no big changes to either one of those. They are also working on bringing them closer to the mix with meetings with leaders of both carriers and establish a closer relationship.

-Customers seem confused about who and what they are on, so they will speed up the rebranding. This will mean trying to rebrand America West to US Airways on an accelerated scale to quickly eliminate the America West brand.

-Originally, they were not going to spend much money on uniform changes, however they have decided to spend the money for a new look, but with feedback from many groups, this will take time and expect some information or announcement in the 1st quarter. The look will be geared toward our business casual approach.

-One of the biggest challenges will be to bring customers back and keep them. The past US history has really driven many people away and one of the most important missions is geared toward the customer. Get them there on time and treat them with respect while with us.


-

 

[NAPAUS]

Every Employee should have a listen.

I will hit some of the highlights.

All AWA Plane painted in 06, US widebodys in 06 all the rest in 07.
New Uniforms are in the works expect an anouncement end of the year. Will reflect the companies biz casual approach.
No growth plans for now. Fleet, schedules and staff are about right sized. No more layoffs.
Growth 2-3 years out. Although an EMB 190 order is in the works.
Would like to upgrade the 50 seat RJs.
Could be profitable in 2006.
PHL makeover in the works, there is a PHL team headed by Anthony Mule, new equipment, extra staff.
They are going to be giving customer snacks and drinks during the holidays.
Anthony said PHL is the single most important area for the CO.
On Intl flying DP said PHL is by far the best city for a gateway. Short term they are going to make PHL work long term expect many improvements.
more later

Thanks so much, FINALLY somebody tells us the highlights and does'nt overdramatize, exaggerate or add their own opinion. Really appreciate ur postings. Thanks !

 

[calibrator]

You sound like the ultimate pessimist. G

I would say he sounds like a rational thinking person who understands that two losers coming together doesn’t equal a single winner. Clicking your heels together whispering a prayer that everything will be alright is a self help measure to reassure a semblance of sanity in a insane industry. Dreaming that Parker is something different, special, enlightened with statements such as: "Today we start a new chapter in aviation history," won’t assure and solidify a golden future by any stretch.

How many other airlines, with one just recently, all had employees with positive attitudes that went into bankruptcy and then oblivion? Too many cheap seats, too many hands reaching for the gold, too many airline employees to service the demand trying to make a profit.

This new improved airline will one day go away like all the others did that once dreamed of blue skies and bright futures. This is not a pessimistic view, it’s a realistic one thru the eyes of people like dude, myself and other rational thinkers who lived the fantasy only to wake up older and wondering what the hell are we going to do now.


If you are going to hang on, realize you are growing older by the day, a less desirable choice to future employers who will take into account the synaptic connections, the very negative synaptic connections that working for any airline produces. Don't believe it, neither did I and thousands of others but here we are. If you have a good marketable skill that is currently in demand, then it's my opinion you are extremely foolish to let it set idle and fantasize about the great future you will have with this new airline lead by a "wonder" boy who puts his pants on the same way as you do and "wonders" every morning what the hell he got himself into.