To ï¬￾nd proï¬￾t, carrier plans to lose more Vegas flights

[Jester]

US Airport staffing is done based on some kind of witchcraft formula that involves the total number of flights versus man hours, or some other crap. The problem in the stations is that management is required to count long term OJI personnel as part of their ACTIVE head count. This precludes having staffing to meet the actual needs of the station and adds to the overall cost of overtime. If Tempe got their heads out of their butts and allowed TEMPORARY staffing increases to cover the injured personnel, then things may run a lot better.

The West ramp has been historically speaking grossly overstaffed and poorly managed from an operations point of view. When there are literately hundreds of people not working for a couple of hours at a time every day, when a typical 8-hour shift might handle three turns on a gate or run four flights, and best yet, management offers overtime because they have too few of people at other times, then one doesn't need to be a rocket surgeon to figure there to be gross incompetence.

Then again, I have questioned the educational background and training of some of the managers and they make our IAM executive committee look like a brain trust. I could not imagine other departments being this poorly lead and managed, thus allowing US to stay in business even this long.

To stay on topic... LAS will become a so-called "focus city" where it makes sense to keep point-to-point service with direct flights mostly to the west coast, east coast hubs, and a few large east coast cities, and leave PHX to be the west coast connecting point.

So Opines Jester.

 

[USCREW]

Younger meaning NOT Top of Scale.

They've been trying to drive Top of Scale out of the company since the Jerry Glass days

Top of Scale would be at 14 years (for F/As). That would be most of the East!

 

[goodfellow]

The West ramp has been historically speaking grossly overstaffed and poorly managed from an operations point of view. When there are literately hundreds of people not working for a couple of hours at a time every day, when a typical 8-hour shift might handle three turns on a gate or run four flights, and best yet, management offers overtime because they have too few of people at other times, then one doesn't need to be a rocket surgeon to figure there to be gross incompetence.
Just explain how you know so much while sleeping from your bagroom couch? Gardening season is near, thanks for the fertilizer Jester! Blow your BS up someone elses arse!!!! Go help your MGMNT buddies and leave the uneducated union family alone. Once again Freedumb with a Dictionary! So Says GF

 

[N903AW]

Top of Scale would be at 14 years (for F/As). That would be most of the East!

Topped over 14 years would include most of the West FAs as well. This airline would have hardly any Flight Attendants left if they tried to weed out those that are maxed on the payscale!

 

[UPNAWAY]

Piney what other businesses operate under such a archaic system?
No sane person would design this if starting a new business.
It really is a ponzi scheme that only works as long as you have new people coming in.
SWA has always done well because of growth; now that that is not such a sure thing and their workforce is aging they are also feeling the same pressure.

Every job has a value and each employee has a value, the idea that this is all the same based on how long you stayed is not efficient .

 

[Jester]

A great many business's operate under the seniority system. ALL of the car manufacturers, Steel workers, Aerospace, Defense Contractors and a host of ones I'm sure I've forgotten.

Not exactly the best examples in terms of profitability or in terms of competitive pressures. Ford, GM and Chrysler are all facing down bankruptcy and American steel has all but disappeared, while defense contractors and aerospace have extremely limited competition within their respective product lines. The airline industry exist in a highly competitive environment while legacy carriers maintain a cost structure based upon a "cost plus" pricing system from the days prior to de-regulation.

Speaking from my own "profession" as a bag masher, the guy who does my job topped-out at $22/hour with 15 years of seniority does not perform it any better than the guy at 3 years of seniority making $12/hour. Thus a relatively new entrant into the business (or a some crafty management types to remove a scope clause allowing low-paid contract labor) will have a competitive advantage for decades relative to legacy carriers until they are forced to roll the dice into bankruptcy court.

So Economizes Jester.

 

[PHL BULL]

Parker says for the industry and his airline to make money, the business model has to change.
Las Vegas was an easy target because its leisure market position wasn’t as profitable as business travel markets such as Philadelphia. Today US Airways has about half the flights it once had in Las Vegas “Vegas was one of the hardest hit (destinations) in the system,â€￾ said Robert Isom, executive vice president and chief operating officer. “But any flights that we pulled were money losers.â€￾ The airline no longer refers to Las Vegas as one of its primary destinations,
“The majority of the employees that left were part-time workers just because of the nature of our operation there,â€￾ Paladini said. “A lot of those folks were working full time at hotels and part time with us to get the flying benefits.â€￾
Because many workers had other Las Vegas jobs, few accepted transfers.
Paladini is a seasoned slasher
No mention of the full timers that had to go part-time
Next round of cuts will be full timers(non CSS) seen it all before
What is USAirways business model?

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/apr/0...-vegas-flights/

to rase money we NEED to go back to charging for sodas people only take them cause it's free...long lines for the bathroom wasted sodas more trash etc...if it's free people will take it even if they REALLY don't want it...it's just human nature...charge charge charge if you really want it you will pay for it...the selling of sodas was the best idea this airline had to make money and the worst idea was to give it away again...people will allways find something to complane about...ala carte all the way!!! we were making tons of cash people buy for low fairs not a free flippin soda this is the transportation bussiness not a resturant if you want to do fancy service you should work at a 5star resturant JMHO

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> to rase money we NEED to go back to charging for sodas people only take them cause it's free...

April Fool’s Day was almost two weeks ago.

 

[Travelpro72]

The airline nixed the idea of selling soda not because they decided it was a bad idea but because NO OTHER AIRLINE followed. It certainly does make you look like the cheapo airline. Was it the deciding factor in people purchasing a ticket? Probably not but it came down to being uncompetitive. I'm for charging for services to a degree but you can go a little over the top. Though the most important thing is to get our customers from point A to B we most certainly ARE in the customer service business. I like to be busy and have no problem pushing a beverage cart through the aisle to hand out a soda. I'll tell you what I DON'T like and I don't care if WN serves a beverage on a 5 minute flight. I do believe that some of that "express" coke, diet, sp and water CRAP is nuts. Some flights you don't need it. It should be water. PERIOD. Your hydrated.

 

[luvn737s]

If your fare is 1/2 what the next most expensive fare is, then charge for soda. If it's $0.50 less, then you're just being cheap.

 

[Planemx]

I agree with what you're saying. Management has made a ton of errors and hasn't seemed to own up to any of them.

That said -- and I hesitate to say this in a bully pulpit such as USAV -- there's a flip side.
I'll bet management would like (some) employees to say things like...

- We admit we abuse FMLA
- We admit we hide behind our unions to avoid consequences of poor performance
- We admit we aren't as nice to customers as we should be
- We admit we sit in the galley reading magazines and playing Sudoku

Think that will ever happen?

It should happen, but it won't.

We are never wrong, we don't break the rules, that's not my job, why didn't (fill in the name) catch it and do something about it...the list is endless. why admit to it when it is so much easier to point the finger and say look over there - not at me.

 

[ussnark]

I'll bet management would like (some) employees to say things like...

- We admit we abuse FMLA
- We admit we hide behind our unions to avoid consequences of poor performance
- We admit we aren't as nice to customers as we should be
- We admit we sit in the galley reading magazines and playing Sudoku

Think that will ever happen?

I would like management to say:

- We are so incompetent that we cannot manage a simple program like FMLA. We fire those abusers we don't like, keeping those we do like, then those abusive losers actually have the temerity to sue to get their jobs back when they find out they were singled out.

- We are so incompetent that we cannot set standards and enforce them, allowing unions easy times returning poor performers back to work.

- We admit that by allowing a hostile work environment and managing utilizing fear, uncertainty and doubt, that many employees might, occasionally, treat the customers the same way management treats them.

- We admit we do drugs because, otherwise, we might have to admit we are completely incompetent.

Think that will ever happen?

 

[Planemx]

I would like management to say:

- We are so incompetent that we cannot manage a simple program like FMLA. We fire those abusers we don't like, keeping those we do like, then those abusive losers actually have the temerity to sue to get their jobs back when they find out they were singled out.

- We are so incompetent that we cannot set standards and enforce them, allowing unions easy times returning poor performers back to work.

- We admit that by allowing a hostile work environment and managing utilizing fear, uncertainty and doubt, that many employees might, occasionally, treat the customers the same way management treats them.

- We admit we do drugs because, otherwise, we might have to admit we are completely incompetent.

Think that will ever happen?

Not a chance in hell.......