US Airways Commits Suicide !!!

[RealityCheck]

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On 8/28/2002 628 PM

If U is willing to do this to it's best customers, how do you think they've treated employees over the past decade?
Now you have some insight into our rage.

I have always been aware who pays the freight around here, and I am truly sorry you are being treated this way.
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Nice blameless apology DIO..thats not how they taught us in finishing school.[]

 

[TomBascom]

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On 8/28/2002 4:27:34 PM
You want more flexibility and benefits, you pay more. You want less, you pay less. Economics 101.

Someone else offers the same (or better) product at a lower cost? Guess where the customers go?

 

[RealityCheck]

In almost if not every market I have ever chkd comparable to SW, US has offered the exact same to the penny (other than seg taxes)fare...same nbr of days advance and on a roundtrip, not one way basis.Sw can get you to the same places nonstop or with up to 3 or 4 stops..SW doesnt have advance seating, SW doesnt have a comparable ft program, SW doesnt have aiprort clubs all over the country, do they? Stop comparing majors to SW,Jet Blue, National,unless you want the exact same frills, which is none. No interline bags... no rule 240 backups for cxlations. Same with the other weeny start ups.Every major airline has their own pluses and minuses but the price competition I see daily is to the penny in most markets. There is no one single airline that has every perk just right, is there?There never will be.
As soon as the other airlines see and react as they did with senior fares going bye bye, (they all werent concerned with alienating that population when they followed suit)..than everyone will be on a more level playing field.

 

[diogenes]

Hey RC, were you a dolphin, owl, leopard or peacock in PPF?[:bigsmile:]And although I have been a ramp rat, lo, these many years, some customer service skills remain hard-wired.

You know, when Dave said he was going to get concessions from everybody, he meant EVERYBODY!

 

[diogenes]

If U is willing to do this to it's best customers, how do you think they've treated employees over the past decade?
Now you have some insight into our rage.

I have always been aware who pays the freight around here, and I am truly sorry you are being treated this way.

 

[ClueByFour]

AA has now said that they are not following US down this road. To about half a dozen differnet people, including having an AA sanctioned rep over on the flyertalk board post thusly:

"Everyone please take a deep breath & relax. We are not contemplating any fundamental changes to AAdvantage elite qualifying criteria.
It's no secret that we are looking at all aspects of our business, just like all of our competitors are, because these are very trying times. I'm sure there will be some changes that are not popular. But this one isn't on the horizon."

This, in the above paragraph, refers to matching the "enhanced" status qualification critera US is trying.

It's been two days. The rest of the majors have not yet jumped on the bandwagon, and I'll go out on a limb and predict that if they don't do it by next Monday (probably on Friday), they are not going to.

 

[RealityCheck]

[qb]Hey RC, were you a dolphin, owl, leopard or peacock in PPF?And although I have been a ramp rat, lo, these many years, some customer service skills remain hard-wired.

You know, when Dave said he was going to get concessions from everybody, he meant EVERYBODY[/qb]




I dont remember...whatever it was, it wasnt a whining hyena.

There's still a deafening silence from the doctors, attorneys, utility managers, and other money grubbing professions out there who won't cut me a financial break..Johnny Cochrane, you out there?..or on a million dollar a speech speaking tour?Cut me some slack Jack?

 

[RealityCheck]

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On 8/28/2002 6:01:11 PM

I don't see what the basis for believing that anyone wants a low level of service is.

Everyone obviously likes low fares. Who can argue with paying less? But where does that become equated with liking low service?


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This is the age of the Cellphone! For U's sake I hope their new fares are low because thats the only thing that will bail them out of this mess!

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[/quote]

the fares are already low and highly competitve,,I see them all day long...no one will convince me otherwise. The business fares were just recently cut about 20 pct and to a walk up not 3 day advance like before..what the heck else more do you people want? Flying is a priviledge not a right. Stay home and play Faithful Fred to your spouses for a change if you dont want to fly. How bout flying attorneys granting me special bereavement fees for settlling my parents estate or my civil suit..can't do that, can you?/How bout flying doctors giving me a break on my surgery because I cant afford the deductible, ...can't do that, can you? I need a car rental and a hotel for an emergency funeral road trip, any special rates?Didnt think so. No competition is there? How about looking to your own professions and see how willing you are to bend the price for your customers and then come back to me and make some sense.

 

[KeepMyJob]

Suicide, I don't think so!
Face it, the days of being able to buy a round trip coast to coast ticket for $198.00, accrue DM miles on top of getting a comp upgrade are gone.
This has to be one of the only industries where such "perks" abound - Immagine going to a grocery store, buying a pound of ground beef, and, just because you shop there twice a week, that grocery store will swap out that pound of ground beef for two pounds of filet mignon, potatoes, veggies, and all the rest of the trimmings....plus give you a coupon for another two pounds of filet mignon for free just because you shop there.....all for the price of a pound of ground beef!
I don't think so....Never will happen....why should it continue to happen here?

 

[KCFlyer]

Flying is a priviledge not a right. Stay home and play Faithful Fred to your spouses for a change if you dont want to fly.

Doesn't that run the risk of eliminating your job?

How about looking to your own professions and see how willing you are to bend the price for your customers and then come back to me and make some sense.

As a matter of fact, my current "company" offers a rate that can't be beat - $0.00 to those who can't afford it.

But in a previous job, I sold midrange computer systems to companies. Very cutthroat business. We had one customer who routinely got 2% over our cost. And my commissions came off my "profit". But if we wanted the deal - THAT'S what we had to do. And you know what else - that customer got treated like royalty. If anything, they got MORE than the folks paying 20% over cost. Want to know why? Because they BOUGHT more than the others - spending well in excess of $2 million dollars in one year. But according to you, I should have told them to buzz off....you get what you pay for, you know. No...the money they spend was valued by my company, so they got "premier" status.

You need to come off of that reservations desk and your preoccupation with the myriad of fare combinations. You may be treated like dog droppings where you work, but when it comes time for you to pack up the family and go to Disneyland, you get to fly for free. How'd you feel if you had to PAY to do that? And how'd you feel if, through no fault of your own, you and the family missed the flight, or had to come back early due to an emergency only to discover that the airline wasn't going to give you a single nickle towards a return flight, and they weren't going to let you go standby either.

I still maintain that AA will offer double miles on flights out of PHL, PIT, and CLT. I see a whole bunch of folks who won't mind a plane change in DFW or ORD.

 

[ClueByFour]

How about looking to your own professions and see how willing you are to bend the price for your customers and then come back to me and make some sense.
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If I did to my customers what U did to its customers over the last couple of days, I'd not only lose my job, but pretty much ruin my name, my company's name, and any future prospects of profitability as a going concern.

 

[RealityCheck]

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On 8/28/2002 7:37:57 PM

There's still a deafening silence from the doctors, attorneys, utility managers, and other money grubbing professions out there who won't cut me a financial break..Johnny Cochrane, you out there?..or on a million dollar a speech speaking tour?Hellllllllo?? Is this a one dimensional world we live in??

Salesmen don't count? What's your response to my post about selling a product at 2% over cost and treating the customer like royalty because they were "frequent buyers"? You asked if MY company would do it. I told you, YES we did. It's only one dimenisional to you. When you're res phones stop ringing off the wall, you might come to see where this "brilliant initiative" is not as great as you are hoping.

FWIW, I have a friend who is an attorney. And when my father passed away, he DID handle the estate for a discount. Don't prejudge folks because they happen to have a job that pays well.
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A friend who is an attorney versus a company and its 1 million a week non family customers is not a valid comparison.It's easier for an attorney to give a few breaks to family than a company to give millions of breaks. Apples and asparagus.Also is it a valid for you to make a comparison to a company with billions in annual sales ??

The res phones are still ringing off the wall to the tune of over 100 to 175 calls per office backed up at certain hours. Lotsa sales calls going on, leisure and otherwise.

 

[GadgetFreak]

[/quote]



Hmm I am close to 200 pounds/34 waist and I can get almost 2 people in my first class seat ..tight seats?/how big is your butt?[]

I have never asked anyone to forfeit a nonstop versus a connecting carrier if its the same money. That feeling is no different today than it was 2 years ago.


Every major airline is cutting back, in all aspects including the freq trvlr program. I may not applaud the suddeness, but I do the motive, behind it. You want more flexibility and benefits, you pay more. You want less, you pay less. Economics 101.The leisure customer is still out there by the millions and apparently US is going after that market as a moneymaker with either cxld no show tickets and also change fees. For those who say you can sell concert tickets or broadway shows instead of losing out, that is almost impossible for last minute cancels,VALUE LOST... and advance selling above the original value is scalping and in many cases illegal. Since there is no way to police that, this is probably a main reason tickets are non txfrble.
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[/quote]

I think the reality here is that psychology 101 is as important to consumer choice as economics 101 is to running a business. SWA has always understood this. First off, if Im 10 minutes late for a Yankees game, I see 8.5 innings (well, maybe not after tomorrow but thats a different story). It clearly isnt that way with a flight. Secondly, WHY DO I FLY US Air? Only because Im Chairmans preferred and like the benefits. In New York, unless I am flying to Pittsburgh or Charlotte, there is no other reason to do so IMO. Why do I fly full fare on the shuttle? To get miles towards Chairmans, if Im not getting it anyways because of this I take the train. Bottom line is my 100+ segments a year on US goes to anyone that doesnt make this change. I do 100k on UA too, if they dont change, I go there. If they all do it my flights go to Airtran, AA, SWA, whoever gives me a better coach experience on a nonstop. A DASH8 wont make it. Im off US Air Jan1. This isnt a small increase in fares to get the benefits, I checked a common flight I take and it was 8 times as much. I got an A+ in Econ 101 but even a D student can figure this out.

 

[KCFlyer]

There's still a deafening silence from the doctors, attorneys, utility managers, and other money grubbing professions out there who won't cut me a financial break..Johnny Cochrane, you out there?..or on a million dollar a speech speaking tour?Hellllllllo?? Is this a one dimensional world we live in??

Salesmen don't count? What's your response to my post about selling a product at 2% over cost and treating the customer like royalty because they were "frequent buyers"? You asked if MY company would do it. I told you, YES we did. It's only one dimenisional to you. When you're res phones stop ringing off the wall, you might come to see where this "brilliant initiative" is not as great as you are hoping.

FWIW, I have a friend who is an attorney. And when my father passed away, he DID handle the estate for a discount. Don't prejudge folks because they happen to have a job that pays well.

 

[RealityCheck]

Hmmm...Wonder if I should buy stock in Amtrak or Greyhound?Looks like they will be getting all the business now.