The Problems with PHL and this Company

[BoeingBoy]

Jim,

I was refering to the area between the terminals not the runways or the main taxi ways! Gates were closed due to ice on the gate ramp areas

And you'll notice that the FOM doesn't mention taxiways, but rather says taxi. The airplanes taxi all the way to the gate parking spot. Outbound, the planes taxi from the tug release point.

How much granulated urea was stockpiled for this winter's operation? How much was spread in the ramp areas arount the gates?

Were scheduled ops reduced to better match up with the gate availability or was it a case of operating all the flights that ATC could handle and hope for the best?

In other words, it's easy to blame the city. What did US do, proactively or in real time, to make the best of the hand Mother Nature dealt?

Jim

 

[SpinDoc]

You voice those assertions as if they were the whole story.

SpinDoc replies:
No, I did not say that was the whole story, but it was a major contributing factor.

Would not USAirways have signed a contract with the city, with appropriate goals and penalties? Presuming the company personnel responsible for such a contract did their jobs, there should be ironclad directives, judged on a quantitative scale with appropriate elements that would allow an airline to backup the cities efforts and fines for non-performance.

SpinDoc replies:
Not sure what the contract states, but if it does not have clauses allowing for recuperation of monetary loss based on poor PHL performance, then someone needs to take a look at the contracts. By the way, this was an airport wide problem, not just in A, A-West, B, C, and F Concourses.

That is USAirways managments job.

SpinDoc replies:
Actually, snow removal on all ramp areas outside of the gate are the responsibility of the city of PHL, and they failed miserably in their non-efforts.

Blaming this week on the city is really pathetic, but seems to reflect the company line,..... blame it on someone else, if you can. <sigh>

SpinDoc replies:
Just as in an auto accident, there is always comparative negligence, and US was to blame for a percentage of what occurred, however, the inaction of the city of PHL precipitated most of the problems US faced.

 

[BoeingBoy]

B6, rightfully, has gotten lots of bad press for what happened at JFK during the storm. However, this is what the CEO said Friday:

In an interview, Mr. Neeleman said of the spillover of delays to Friday: “Day three: unforgivable.â€￾

At least Neeleman takes ownership of the problem. He's not playing the role of victim.

Jim

 

[BuffaloJoe]

B6, rightfully, has gotten lots of bad press for what happened at JFK during the storm. However, this is what the CEO said Friday:

In an interview, Mr. Neeleman said of the spillover of delays to Friday: “Day three: unforgivable.â€￾

At least Neeleman takes ownership of the problem. He's not playing the role of victim.

Jim

He shut all E190's down till monday. The F/A's from the 190's are to be put on the A320's.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Yes he has, and at various points during and since the storm hit NYC B6 asked the FAA to halt their departures bound for JFK. Sounds like they wanted, and still want, to sort out the mess they have rather than try to operate everything ATC will allow and add to the mess.

Jim

 

[ussnark]

SpinDoc,

Clever of you to reply in such a way that there is no easy record.

[SpinDoc replies:
Not sure what the contract states, but if it does not have clauses allowing for recuperation of monetary loss based on poor PHL performance, then someone needs to take a look at the contracts. By the way, this was an airport wide problem, not just in A, A-West, B, C, and F Concourses.]

No, the original comment was that everyone else was doing fine. Get it?

[SpinDoc replies:
Actually, snow removal on all ramp areas outside of the gate are the responsibility of the city of PHL, and they failed miserably in their non-efforts.]

No sir. A contract was signed, with appropriate conditions and restrictions, goals and quantitative markers, I would hope. If not, fire the morons at USAirways.

[SpinDoc replies:
Just as in an auto accident, there is always comparative negligence, and US was to blame for a percentage of what occurred, however, the inaction of the city of PHL precipitated most of the problems US faced. ]

BS. If the city was tasked with keeping the ramps clear, then, how was U to blame? The only way U could take responsibility is if they choose to not force change or sue. That should go out to the passengers inconvenienced at PHL.

If I contract for someone to remove snow at my rentals (I do) and they do not do the job, there are very public consequenses. Why do you keep making excuses for incompetant and immoral behavior on the part of U PHL mgt? Just askin'

 

[Informed1]

First off...Phl is very poorly run they hired a bunch of managers that all they do is carry clip boards...Lets see
You have a customers service director, 3 senior managers
4 duty managers and who knows how many little managers
underneath them, and this station is worseoff then it ever
was. The problem with the last 3 days in phl has been
poor management of not preparing. First off was wanted
the ramp salted or urea I gues that is how it spelled
both b and c gates are ice covered and we had flts cancelling left and right..so we made a couple of phone calls, we checked the other carriers in phl and guess what
they were operating normal schedules :down: Listen up
BIG BOYS in tempe what the heck are you doing are running this airline into the ground...the most money making
station we have and you have inexperience people running
this station down the tubes...and then you have the gull
to say that employee's over 20 years are not needed
wake up and smell the coffee....you preach about taking
customers away from southwest but guess what you are
giving them customers for how disgusting this company
being run and treating thier employee's

Tempe how careless of you to put a Manager at a major
hub with only 6 years of inexperience and being bounced
around the america west system, why was he so bounced
around. And please do not give me the garbage of
college degree's because that is a bunch of bull....

As an employee I deserve better.....and from the customers
point( they do pay for out salaries) they deserve a better
product.......

You do not have thr right management staff to run this
station...how dare you jeopardize my livelyhood...
with incompedence people....

this weeks fiasco could of had a lesser effect in phl then it did if we only had someone that knew what to do..
it is called preplanning....just think 4 level of
management and noone could think ahead...

Tempe take a wild guess....how can this station run day in
and day out with such incompedence management...
No big seceret..and the answer is your dedicated agents and
supervisor that have experience...and you can
take that to the bank..not to mention they are also
training the younger agents on how to do the work..

Tempe the ball is in your court...

concerned and totaly disgusted in PHL

Excellent and I could not have said it better. Did you send this to the company or only post here?

 

[OTslave]

Sad, but true.. I have known of a few very good Managers who were in PHL in both C/S, and ramp that have been pushed out by the big-guns in Tempe in favor of their own clueless clowns. Another factor that adds to the PHL mess is the quality of the new hires they are dragging in off the streets. The company still prefers to hire off the street instead of giving into the 60 day furlough rule, which could bring back well trained and qualified workers.
To sum it all up, they are getting what they want. Pay cheap, look like a 1/2 azzed operation to the flying public.

Starting with the basics about PHL:

The current airport and facility was not built nor will it withstand what it is doing as a hub.
- Runways are too close to each other.
- There is not enough real estate there for a decent large operation.
- The facility (B/C) Concourses are old decrepit and way too overcrowded.
- There is no room for an irregular operation.
- And guess what ? PHL probably has more of them than any other USAirways major city.
- The company has in the past, (and who knows how sincere they are about it now) neglected ground equipment, proper staffing.
- What the company should be doing is enter in steep serious negotiations with the city of PHL regarding a completely new airport.
- If UPS were relocated to where the charter terminal is now, the existing UPS facility could be demolished and a brand new state of the art terminal built there. One large enough to house USAirways and other carriers.
- No matter how many managers you hire or how good they claim to be or can be, will be overshadowed by the fact that the current building structures, bag belts, bag rooms cannot handle it. Basically you're using Elmer's glue to fix cement. It ain't gonna work.
- Finally there are very many dedicated and hardworking agents in PHL. Many that have come from or have been displaced there from other locations. These folks do the most with the least. Hiring locally in PHL has always been a problem. Now with the lower payscales even more. You get what you pay for. The suggestion ? Take over a hotel in the area. One large enough to house our crews that lay over as well as to house egents from other cities that want some overtime. Fly the agents in, put them over in the hotel for free and let them report for work as if they were based there. If you can't hire locally, import them.

Some suggestions here that's all. Not all earth shattering, but some that could probably work.

Hopefully Tempe is reading them.

 

[phlagent]

Excellent and I could not have said it better. Did you send this to the company or only post here?

only here. hopefully they will read it or someone who
cares can do something about it..

 

[Informed1]

only here. hopefully they will read it or someone who
cares can do something about it..

Send it to the company! You can send annonymously. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. Let your voice be heard....

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

Send it to the company! You can send annonymously. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. Let your voice be heard....

Like they care!

 

[PA18]

And you'll notice that the FOM doesn't mention taxiways, but rather says taxi. The airplanes taxi all the way to the gate parking spot. Outbound, the planes taxi from the tug release point.

How much granulated urea was stockpiled for this winter's operation? How much was spread in the ramp areas arount the gates?

Were scheduled ops reduced to better match up with the gate availability or was it a case of operating all the flights that ATC could handle and hope for the best?

In other words, it's easy to blame the city. What did US do, proactively or in real time, to make the best of the hand Mother Nature dealt?

Jim

Jim,

I heard from a pilot that while he was sitting at the gate in PHL Wednesday, he saw no fewer than four ramp employees slip and fall while attempting to do their jobs.

The crew called Ops and informed them of these accidents, and shortly thereafter the ramp was closed.

 

[PA18]

The city was confused it was thinking they were trying to help the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team!

Sorry, but nothing can help the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team.

Not this year, anyway.

 

[BoeingBoy]

The crew called Ops and informed them of these accidents, and shortly thereafter the ramp was closed.

Which is why I asked the questions. It's easy to blame the city/airport but the ramp area around the gate is US' responsibility. I know in winters past there would be pallets of granulated urea stacked under the overhangs of the concourses (literally tons of it) and after a storm like this one the ramp areas would be white with the residue.

Just wondering if that was the case this time.

Jim

 

[EricLv2Fish]

Tempe how careless of you to put a Manager at a major
hub with only 6 years of inexperience and being bounced
around the america west system, why was he so bounced
around. And please do not give me the garbage of
college degree's because that is a bunch of bull....

"Troubleshooters" are often bounced around wherever there is trouble. This is not uncommon. 6 years experience? Sometimes not having so many paradiagms built in is also a way to get a fresh look at a problem. JMO