Travelers Stall In Us Airways' Lines At Airport

[ClueByFour]

US Airways ticket counters at Pittsburgh International Airport returned to normal Monday, after lines clogged with frustrated passengers turned the scene into "a zoo" the day before, witnesses said.

Scores of passengers in check-in lines chanted "Hold the plane! Hold the plane!" near noon Sunday, as their departure times came and went. Witnesses estimated snaking lines grew to as many as 200 or so people, most with bags to check.

The airline blamed baggage-laden leisure travelers who didn't allow enough time to check in. The union for passenger-service workers blamed short staffing by the carrier.

Read the rest at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-re...s/s_198823.html

Further proof that US management does not get it:

"We did have an unusually high volume of leisure travelers traveling with us on Sunday with excess baggage," said US Airways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.

"So, there was a bit of a backup," she said. "But the ticket counter was fully staffed."

Kudwa also said many passengers were using the ticket kiosks for the first time. So, self-serve check-ins that normally take 30 to 40 seconds stretched out to three to four minutes, she said.

If a first time user takes 5 times as long as an "experienced" user, the technology and/or the interface is broken.

Forget for the second how stupid "an unusually high volume of leisure travelers traveling with us on Sunday" sounds, regardless of how much baggage is present. It's the third week of June, for the love of Pete. Not like school just got out or anything. Brilliant.

I personally wonder how long the Preferred/FC line was. Even with bags, I don't know that I've ever shown up for a domestic flight more than 90 minutes prior, and I'm not going to start now.....

 

[mbmbbost]

I personally wonder how long the Preferred/FC line was. Even with bags, I don't know that I've ever shown up for a domestic flight more than 90 minutes prior, and I'm not going to start now.....

Don't take that FC/Preferred line for granted like I did. When I showed up at LAX last night there was only one very long line. No FC, no Preferred.....

 

[tadjr]

We keep telling you guys, not all of us here are a bunch of whiners, but they are cutting to the very bones.
Its not like we dont want to do ANY work, but with only 2 people in my station to check in the FC/Pref AND regular line on a daily basis, someones going to wait when there is a deal or its lunch or break time because they dont cover for that and if you dont go when its your scheduled time, you never get the coverage to do it. The agents feel bad leaving a line when we're stuck or when we go, but they basically tell us tough, deal with it so we do. Maybe when the right person misses their flight because of this someone will rethink some staffing models. :down:

 

[ClueByFour]

Of course we have in addition to the "Full Pay to the Last Day " crowd another group of PIT area folks who blame everything on US Airways because the airline has decided to scale back operations. In PIT, US probably gets blamed for world hunger too.

Painting with a broad brush is dangerous, intellectually dishonest, and any number of other things.

In the context of the article (and, to be frank, I'm not quite sure how your quoted comment relates), how exactly does writing an article about a queue situation self-inflicted by the dominant airline equate to blaming US for world hunger?

I suspect that the shred of truth in the comment was the "excess baggage" comment. That, to a very real extent is also a self inflicted wound, as the kiosk from which you can purchase a ticket (with a credit card) can certainly take said credit card to cover excess baggage charges; moreover, the fact that checking luggage still requires (much to CCY's dismay) an agent is not an excuse, as it's pretty clear to a sane person that a Sunday in June is bound to have an elevated level of leisure travelers with luggage to check.

Stupid is as stupid does in PHL too. Remember the small baggage problem that hub had last year? Perhaps we can blame the famine of 2003 on US (but only when it fits a stereotype, eh)?

 

[Hello Newman]

We keep telling you guys, not all of us here are a bunch of whiners, but they are cutting to the very bones.
Its not like we dont want to do ANY work, but with only 2 people in my station to check in the FC/Pref AND regular line on a daily basis, someones going to wait when there is a deal or its lunch or break time because they dont cover for that and if you dont go when its your scheduled time, you never get the coverage to do it. The agents feel bad leaving a line when we're stuck or when we go, but they basically tell us tough, deal with it so we do. Maybe when the right person misses their flight because of this someone will rethink some staffing models. :down:

Add to that the problem that we in outlying stations have, sending someone downstairs
to cover Baggage Service when a flight arrives, that leaves the counter short for at least 30 minutes. And while we're at it, another reason for long lines is the increase in ticketing "deals". Since res is so paranoid of their timers, they' re telling callers anything to get them off the line including NOT taking new bookings when the customer
is using an RTFC, an old unused ticket, or any kind kind of promotional coupon. I hear it several times a week " they told me at the 800 nbr I had to do it here" . They used to tell us that the airline that provides the best service will be the one that survives. We aren't even close.

 

[Phoenix]

As someone who used to fly out of ACY when US did you used to dread getting into security lines when a Spirit Airlines Flight was near boarding. The normal 10 minute security line turned into a 40 minute debacle.

Spirit caters to the liesure traveler and they take forever to do ANYTHING. So I would not be surprised if there was some truth to the US spokesman's comments.

Of course we have in addition to the "Full Pay to the Last Day " crowd another group of PIT area folks who blame everything on US Airways because the airline has decided to scale back operations. In PIT, US probably gets blamed for world hunger too.

No, Piney. World Hunger is your fault. Please get it straight already.

Please help us out here. Chip and I are tasked to the limit with the need to post corrections to tell people how they should think. I know it was an inadvertant mistake, but please be careful to post accurately so we don't have to make corrections.

 

[Seatacus]

I know that US is concerned about the number of passengers, but I wonder if they track the number of repeat customers. You know, the people who keep flying US for whatever reason. I wonder what management really thinks keeps passengers coming back. They obviously don't think it is our superb service. :huh:

 

[madders]

Taking for granted passengers pack lightly and come to the airport on time and agents are queueing the line :

It really should not take a long time to check in a passenger ...2 minutes is all the time you should need if everything goes well.
No need to look in the passenger PNR before checking them in because if the passenger made a change and there are fee dues well the person who made the changes should have collected the fees or put an inhibiter in it .. a pqf .

When you check in the passenger if you dont see a us4 etc ask the person if they have DM and make the correction if you need to.

If you have to take a break by all means take your break ..but ticket agents need to move a lot faster when checking in passengers .

And Hello Newman at your station how about just doing the baggage service deals at the ticket counter some stations do it at the ticket counter then you really wont have to leave the ticket counter.
And RTFC and unused ticket reissues are to be done at the ATO. SInce most of us still around have considerable senority doing these function should be fluid and they do not take a whole lot of time...

So it just a problem with agent doing their function efficiently and fast enough to get the passengers out..and we can do this in a courteous fashion too

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

Of course we have in addition to the "Full Pay to the Last Day " crowd another group of PIT area folks who blame everything on US Airways because the airline has decided to scale back operations. In PIT, US probably gets blamed for world hunger too.

Must you open your fat trap about everything? As 1 customer to another your opinions are getting blantantly tiring and boring. Both here and on Flyertalk.

 

[youngblood]

Since res is so paranoid of their timers, they' re telling callers anything to get them off the line including NOT taking new bookings when the customer
is using an RTFC, an old unused ticket, or any kind kind of promotional coupon. I hear it several times a week " they told me at the 800 nbr I had to do it here" . They used to tell us that the airline that provides the best service will be the one that survives. We aren't even close.

Newman,

Let's get a few things straight. A rtfc can only be booked and held through res. We can't ticket them. They HAVE to do it a t the ATO. Since I personally work at the reissue desk, a reissue is done through me and we ticket it; however, when someone cannot give me a credit card for the charges I can't even retain the PQR for ato reissue unless it is a paper ticket. Some promotional coupons require that you turn them in at the ATO - like the buy 3 get one free that was running. I suggest you read FOCUS and get your facts straight before you start laying blame. BTW, the Albertson's coupons, travel vouchers, and any CS0007 coupon are/were done at the ATO. (Although Albertson's was eventually changed to phone confirmations after an uproar.) When you know how to do my job, I'll let you know what yours is.

 

[youngblood]

Piney,

What the hell is your major malfunction with PIT? Yes, there are those who are "full pay to last day" but they are EVERYWHERE not just in PIT. Let's get one thing straight - management will never own up to its mistakes. One of those include understaffing in major areas including the ticket counter in PIT. I have word from customers and employees that understaffing is what caused the problem at PIT not disgruntled employees. Get your facts straight before you attempt to degrade an entire city of employees. The freakin nerve you have!!!!!!!!!!

 

[javaboy]

from the ariticle.............Scores of passengers in check-in lines chanted "Hold the plane! Hold the plane!" near noon Sunday, as their departure times came and went. Witnesses estimated snaking lines grew to as many as 200 or so people, most with bags to check.

The airline blamed baggage-laden leisure travelers who didn't allow enough time to check in. The union for passenger-service workers blamed short staffing by the carrier. ..............................



IT DOESNT MATTER, IT IS NOT THE CUSTOMERS FAULT. PERIOD. excuses and finger pointing (while it might be technically correct) highlight the exact problem with the company in general. its not about how much one gets paid, time off, full time, part time, loss of pensions, medical, and the list goes on.. of of that hefted onto the employee group is Completely unfair, and the burden is far greater than anyone should have to tolerate. now having said that........

its not the customer traveling today that will save the airline, its the one that travels today and comes back. YOU can give this person a reason to come back (thru service ... and yes they recognize you trying 115% or 50%) or you can give them a reason never to come back.

2 years from now you can be sitting around saying yep we were right needed more help, or cheaper fares, or more effiecient staffing procedures, or better timing of aircraft arrival/departures, or insert your personal experience here. the thing is you can be sitting around a breakroom saying yeah that was a bad time but things are finally getting better, or at some place else (unemployment line, walmart, or perhaps a higher paying job with better benefits maybe in another industry). See you can do that right now, if the grass is greener elsewhere please by all means go over take a picture and report back so we may know. if not please make every effort to please the customer because that is what it is all about. my own personal quote is. i dont mind if you dont want to row in the boat with the rest of us, but dont get out and water ski.


from the people i have had the previledge to meet over the past 3 decades very few fit into the last paragraphs negative description. Just about all try 115% every day even though they may not have all the tools for the job (staffing, training, the actual tools, computers, supplies ect) they do it because they simply love doing it yes times suck now and better times preceeded this. but showing up doing their jobs and going home to their collective families in the face of what has happened to them personally (loss of wages, jobs of spouses, medical conditions, round after round of layoffs) it truely amazes me to see everyday the kind of person that puts on the uniform and does say thank you to our customers, appologizes for things he/she had nothing to do with. and for what no million dollar stock options, no huge pay increase, no job secuirty, no pension, reduced medical....and the list goes on. but what do i notice? the smile from the heart and the honest thank you.. that my friends is why this place is still in operation today...



HAPPY FATHERS DAY !!!

 

[PITbull]

We keep telling you guys, not all of us here are a bunch of whiners, but they are cutting to the very bones.
Its not like we dont want to do ANY work, but with only 2 people in my station to check in the FC/Pref AND regular line on a daily basis, someones going to wait when there is a deal or its lunch or break time because they dont cover for that and if you dont go when its your scheduled time, you never get the coverage to do it. The agents feel bad leaving a line when we're stuck or when we go, but they basically tell us tough, deal with it so we do. Maybe when the right person misses their flight because of this someone will rethink some staffing models. :down:

Because the Agent staffing has been so reduced...it will hurt our customer base permanently, if things don't change.

Called Brucey about this situation and left a message, just to give him FYI, that employees are not going to give concessions on the one hand, and allow managment on the other hand kill customer service which will erode our customer base.

He left me a message and said he got the message and will investigate the situation....no call back, though.

It seems just plain ludicrous for employees to shell out more money to subsidize a business plan that does not provide good customer service to maintain and grow our customer base.

Again, another example of a management that does not know how to operate an arline or any customer service type of business.

 

[repeet]

PITbull
Posted on Jun 20 2004, 11:47 AM

Again, another example of a management that does not know how to operate an ailrine or any customer service type of business.

That's the bottom line, isn't it.

Constantly discounting our careers and service to society, in order for the "privileged" to leech the value out of, once was, an "essential service" is unconscionable.

 

[PITbull]

The USAirways spokesperson Amy Kudwa is a piece of work...

To sit and blame customers for being inexperienced travelers is a bunch of BULL...

Pittsburgh pax are not so gaulible and will not forget this kind of ineptness by management who HAS NO EXPERIENCE OR ILL EXPERIENCE IN ASSESSING A VOID OR NEED IN THIS DEPARTMENT AND PREEMPTING AND ANTICIPATING THEN ACTING ON THIS SUMMER TRAVEL TO ENSURE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. These managers in these depts including Al Crellin need to be FIRED!

Plus, trust that Pittsburgh is not in a vacume. These customers will tell their firends and tell their relatives and it will hurt U for many years to come.

Geezus, no staffing in the summer months, no less. IDIOTS!!!

And just how much did that lack of genius cost us?????????