MarkMyWords
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- Aug 20, 2002
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And that is an excuse to allow you to fail. Why can we turn the exact same airplane in 35-40 minutes on a sunny day, but put in a ground delay program and we need an hour?
US Airways fares poorly in on-time ranking
- Thread starter trvlr64
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MarkMyWords
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
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Lav Man -
I hate to burst your bubble, but CLT is actually pretty good at doing burn turns when they have to. PIT is very good at it too. With the summer passenge loads those burn turns have slipped, but PIT and CLT are able to do a pretty consistent job. PHL on the other hand....if the flight is scheduled for 35-40 minute turn and the weather and ATC conditions are going our way, they do it. Why is it that during irregular ops, they can't provide the same level of work? Why, because there is an ATC ground delay program, due to enroute weather.....not even at the terminal......can't the aircraft be turned in under an hour? They do it on a regular day without a problem.
Plus stations like LGA, DCA and BOS can do turns that will make your head spin. I have seen DCA turn a 757 in 25 minutes, especially if there is an issue with the curfew. I've been in PHL and heard them being told to get a LGA flight off the gate in 30 minutes (on an A319) in order to make it before curfew and hearing everyone say it can't be done. They don't even try! Say the same thing to CLT and they were able to turn an A321 in 23 minutes and both flights were 90% full.
I hate to burst your bubble, but CLT is actually pretty good at doing burn turns when they have to. PIT is very good at it too. With the summer passenge loads those burn turns have slipped, but PIT and CLT are able to do a pretty consistent job. PHL on the other hand....if the flight is scheduled for 35-40 minute turn and the weather and ATC conditions are going our way, they do it. Why is it that during irregular ops, they can't provide the same level of work? Why, because there is an ATC ground delay program, due to enroute weather.....not even at the terminal......can't the aircraft be turned in under an hour? They do it on a regular day without a problem.
Plus stations like LGA, DCA and BOS can do turns that will make your head spin. I have seen DCA turn a 757 in 25 minutes, especially if there is an issue with the curfew. I've been in PHL and heard them being told to get a LGA flight off the gate in 30 minutes (on an A319) in order to make it before curfew and hearing everyone say it can't be done. They don't even try! Say the same thing to CLT and they were able to turn an A321 in 23 minutes and both flights were 90% full.
PITbull
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- Dec 29, 2002
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On 8/8/2003 6:00:19 PM MarkMyWords wrote:
Appearantly we deal with totally different people. I deal with CLT, PHL and PIT on a regular basis and when challenged CLT rises to the occasion nearly everytime. I think the key is to challenge people, set expectations. With out a goal in mind there is nothing to aspire to. So many people with your attitude fail to even try.Â
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On 8/8/2003 6:00:19 PM MarkMyWords wrote:
Appearantly we deal with totally different people. I deal with CLT, PHL and PIT on a regular basis and when challenged CLT rises to the occasion nearly everytime. I think the key is to challenge people, set expectations. With out a goal in mind there is nothing to aspire to. So many people with your attitude fail to even try.Â
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Mark,
The key here is to "inspire" the worker. Its not a question of challenging anyone, but rather inspiring them to do the job and meet the expectation. Find me an inspiring manager, and the workers are "champions" in performance.
Starts from the top works its way down.
On a sunny day flights run smooth, arrive on time and depart on time, the minute the weather hits ATC slows everything down, you get flights delayed, connections missed, so they hold a flight so passengers don't get stranded.
It is like a domino effect, once one falls the rest fall too.
Numerous flights last week diverted to MYR or CHS what had connections to LGW and it causes havoc when you have to hold flights.
We had several days last month of two banks of flights on the ground at the same time, the airport does not have the capacity nor the man power to handle it, a whole plane full of PAXS from SXM missed their connections.
It is like a domino effect, once one falls the rest fall too.
Numerous flights last week diverted to MYR or CHS what had connections to LGW and it causes havoc when you have to hold flights.
We had several days last month of two banks of flights on the ground at the same time, the airport does not have the capacity nor the man power to handle it, a whole plane full of PAXS from SXM missed their connections.
MarkMyWords
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
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But Lav, you just said that there is no way we can turn a flight in 30-35 minutes, then you said that they are holding the flights. Which is it? I see this everyday, the agents in PHL feel they are doing the right thing by holding flights until they have all or most of the connections. But when the plane is flying PHL-ALB-PHL and we take a plane that is running 20 minutes late and make it 30-35 minutes, we are now jeopardizing the return connections. So by delaying the flight an additional 15 minutes you have now put the returning connections in jeopardy. You have to weight the choices here. Do we hold an additional 10-15 minutes for 5 customers and risk busting connections on the return, or do we cut the airplane loose as soon as it is ready and attempt to make up some of the lost time and make all of the connections on the return?
Pity -
You are correct, we do not hold every damn leg for connections and we are more generous with our hold policy on the last banks of flights. But there are some stations/employees that feel they can write their own rules. PIT has a very strict no hold policy per their station director. Only in extreme circumstances will they allow for holding for connections. In CLT they're more open with their policy and will hold if the situations warrant it. PHL just kind of does what PHL wants with total disregard for the ripple effect. 3 hub stations each with very different views on what is right.
Sometimes it is not about hiring more people to get the job done, but working smarter to do things the right way. Again, balancing operational performance and Customer Service is the key.
Pity -
You are correct, we do not hold every damn leg for connections and we are more generous with our hold policy on the last banks of flights. But there are some stations/employees that feel they can write their own rules. PIT has a very strict no hold policy per their station director. Only in extreme circumstances will they allow for holding for connections. In CLT they're more open with their policy and will hold if the situations warrant it. PHL just kind of does what PHL wants with total disregard for the ripple effect. 3 hub stations each with very different views on what is right.
Sometimes it is not about hiring more people to get the job done, but working smarter to do things the right way. Again, balancing operational performance and Customer Service is the key.
MarkMyWords
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 1,900
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On 8/8/2003 6:34:24 PM LavMan wrote:
On a sunny day flights run smooth, arrive on time and depart on time, the minute the weather hits ATC slows everything down, you get flights delayed, connections missed,
so they hold a flight so passengers don't get stranded. It is like a domino effect, once one falls the rest fall too.
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BINGO! There is your problem. It isn't a matter of we CAN'T turn the flight in that time, but we choose not to. This is exactly what part of the problem is. We continue to hold flights hoping to scoop up all the connecting customers and don't realize that by doing so we delay the return flight. When it arrives late, we end up holding the next bank of flights to get their connections and the airline continues to spiral. We have to find a way to balance our operational performance with our customer service. If we hold a flight for 4-5 people but end up misconnecting 50 on the return trip, did we do the right thing?On 8/8/2003 6:34:24 PM LavMan wrote:
On a sunny day flights run smooth, arrive on time and depart on time, the minute the weather hits ATC slows everything down, you get flights delayed, connections missed,
so they hold a flight so passengers don't get stranded. It is like a domino effect, once one falls the rest fall too.
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PITbull
Veteran
- Dec 29, 2002
- 7,784
- 456
WE hold flights for passengers usually on the last bank of flights. U doens't hold flights for all connecting pasgrs who are late. Let's be clear about this so not to mislead folks that U holds flights for a few passengers on every damn leg thoughout the system.
Recognize problem... have a plan of action,set the goal, and evaluate outcome.
Solution:
Hire more people to expedite the travel process for improved on time performance and overall customer service..
Recognize problem... have a plan of action,set the goal, and evaluate outcome.
Solution:
Hire more people to expedite the travel process for improved on time performance and overall customer service..
MarkMyWords
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 1,900
- 1
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On 8/8/2003 7:06:03 PM PITbull wrote:
Mark,
The key here is to "inspire" the worker. Its not a question of challenging anyone, but rather inspiring them to do the job and meet the expectation. Find me an inspiring manager, and the workers are "champions" in performance.
Starts from the top works its way down.
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Couldn't have said it better myself. You have to set goals and expectations and as a manger you have to perform consistently and set the same level of expectations and goals.On 8/8/2003 7:06:03 PM PITbull wrote:
Mark,
The key here is to "inspire" the worker. Its not a question of challenging anyone, but rather inspiring them to do the job and meet the expectation. Find me an inspiring manager, and the workers are "champions" in performance.
Starts from the top works its way down.
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MarkMyWords
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
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And we don't on a sunny day?
The problem with that Mark is we eliminated so many flights their is not a later flight to rebook the passenger on, so US has two choice, one hold the flights, or two strand the passenger with no help since WX delays are not our fault and lose a passenger for future business.
Seatacus
Veteran
You know people.... the most important stat we must consider is what percentage of our customers are using the kiosks. Forget all of the other stats...they don't matter. Mgmnt must look good so let's get those kiosk percentages up. Customer service is a thing of the past, we are no longer a service industry.
ClueByFour
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 3,566
- 37
PIT's no hold policy costs them dearly. I regularly demand (and get) signed over to other carriers when I misconnect due to the fact that they would not hold a plane for 5 minutes. What's _that_ incremental cost?
A little common sense is all it would really take. Common sense, it seems, is not allowed by the operational managers at US.
A little common sense is all it would really take. Common sense, it seems, is not allowed by the operational managers at US.
thepoohbear
Advanced
- Aug 22, 2002
- 126
- 0
In my city EWR, we lost our utility and maint. The small amount of ramp agts have to signal the A/C in ,chock, unload the cargo and bags and then run up and clean the plane.It stinks that the company wants to run like a mickey mouse operation and want to look like we are the greatest thing on earth..BTW , while the designated cleaner does what he has to, we quickturn the pax. Holding them on the jetway. It's not glamourous but we can get 140+ pax on in 15 mins. I've been in hub cities on full filghts and they will wait till the last 15 mins to begin boarding. No wonder we get inbound delays.
Attn Mgt: Stop running the company like Ralph Cramdens Bus. The planes are a total mess.Clean, is not in our vocabulary anymore.We might as well change our name to Pig Sty A/L we all ready have the logo.
Attn Mgt: Stop running the company like Ralph Cramdens Bus. The planes are a total mess.Clean, is not in our vocabulary anymore.We might as well change our name to Pig Sty A/L we all ready have the logo.
There are always opportunities for flight attendants to speed up boarding and deplaning, and some just don't want to take charge and manage the passengers. Some others are great at it. Certain passengers will fumble and fiddle with their bags as long as they feel like it no matter how many folks they're holding up. And I can't imagine that all the planes (from what I see lately) get 15 minutes of cleaning, or even that it's necessary if things are backed up. But I fear things will never be good in PHL no matter what. Seems there's always something screwed up there.
