Who's to blame for this airline mess?

[Dont call me Shirley]

http://www.tripso.com/columnists/wysong/


Who's to blame for this airline mess?
July 17, 2007

James Wysong has been thinking a lot about the airline industry recently. Everywhere he looks he sees dissatisfaction. Customers are unhappy, stockholders are nervous, management is desperate and union workers are furious. Was it ever any different? Is somebody to blame? After much thought, James has finally figured something out. Yes, there is someone to blame, he says. And that someone is you......

Check the "smelly airplane" on the same site also.

 

[luvthe9]

Just look to the WEST my friend!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hope777]

Who you ask?

Lets Start with the Board of Directors for allowing this Poor Excuse for Managment to continue to make such poor decisions......

And Who I ask is the Chairman of the Board?

There you will find the answer.....

 

[john john]

http://www.tripso.com/columnists/wysong/
Who's to blame for this airline mess?
July 17, 2007

http://www.fhsolutionsgroup.com/showconsultant.aspx?show=45
http://www.fordharrison.com/showindustry.aspx?Show=578

Offering the largest airline industry-specific practice of any law firm, Ford & Harrison has unmatched experience in the labor and employment issues unique to airlines. We partner with more than 60 airlines and related companies, including major airlines, national and regional airlines, foreign flag carriers, charter and supplemental airlines, cargo carriers and other employers to maximize efficiency and profitability in the aviation workplace.
Our attorneys have represented airlines in contract negotiations, employment and Railway Labor Act litigation, arbitrations and representation disputes with all of the airline-related labor organizations, including ALPA, AFA, AMFA, the IAM, the TWU and the Teamsters Union. More than 20 Ford & Harrison attorneys devote substantially all of their practice to Railway Labor Act matters. Additionally, we have a group of Ford & Harrison attorneys with significant experience in the airline industry that advise our airline clients in all aspects of employment law.
Ford & Harrison lawyers are also heavily involved in the airline industry through industry organizations and bar associations involvement. Several lawyers are actively involved in the ABA’s Railway & Airline Labor Law Committee, ALI-ABA, Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association, Regional Airline Association and many others. Our lawyers have spoken at a number of industry events including the AIR conference, ALI-ABA’s national conference and the National Academy of Arbitrators’ annual meeting.
Our practice includes:
Labor Relations
Ford & Harrison represents airlines in all areas of traditional labor law, which include:

 

[AstroLounge]

This thread died TOO QUICKLY! Shall WE NOT let them off the hook without Proper Adieu.....EVERYONE needs to know what a Trainwreck Team Tempe is. The busy Labor Day Holiday is approaching........I'm sure they will do something to end the Summer Season with a Bang! (Just don't bring back that GD calzone! )

 

[BajaBabe]

Who's to blame well, let's start off with each and every one of us who believes that you are working at a day-care camp. This is a business and you will only get what you put into it. It is about going the extra mile and having Labor work for the employees and keeping management from clouding their own intentions. We have all participated in what we have today, we allowed Management to look good did not care to get involved and you refused to take the job home, but the job followed you home. The only catch is the job crumbled your lives and ruined your marriages and still no one was held accountable. I hope the pilots can come together as Men for once and understand the importance of the Finger in the Dike.

Remember when it comes dumping ALPA, it is not about any one person, it is all about checking a box or not.

 

[rjh]

Just look to the WEST my friend!!!!!!!!!

Blame the west??? Yeah, like the "old" USAirways had such a stellar on-time record.

The DOT report dated Feb 2006 shows statistics all the way through 2005, the final year that statistics were reported for HP flights. The "database to date" (Sept 1987-Dec 2005) shows HP # 5 in on-time performance, US at # 6.

Also, so far in 2007, here are the US on-time stats for the hubs:
CLT 69.1
PHL 59.6
LAS 71.5
PHX 74.5

Yes, PHL has weather and ATC delays for probably 6 out of 7 days of the week. Yes, PHX and LAS have virtually no weather delays compared to the east coast cities. When there are ATC delays to cities such as PHL, EWR, and CLT, the west flights aren't always included. Most days, the GDP's are issued by ATC as "no west".

But the numbers above show you can't "blame the west". Blame managment all you want, but not the west employees. If west flights had such terrible on time performance, then the stats for US flights to PHX and LAS would be much lower.

 

[deltawatch]

FAA Head Urges Airlines to Reduce Their Flight Schedules to Cut Congestion, Delays


Dogged by record flight delays, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday said airlines need to shrink their schedules or potentially face government action.

"The airlines need to take a step back on scheduling practices that are at times out of line with reality," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said in prepared remarks at an industry luncheon.

Blakey said the agency is particularly concerned about overcrowded skies and airports along the East Coast, saying "if the airlines don't address this voluntarily, don't be surprised when the government steps in."

Blakey finishes a five-year stint at the agency Thursday.

The airline industry's on-time performance in the first seven months of 2007 was its worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995, according to government data.

U.S. carriers reported an on-time arrival rate of 69.8 percent in July, the most recent statistics available, down from 73.7 percent a year ago, according to the Department of Transportation.

Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant based in Evergreen, Colo., criticized Blakey and the FAA for not doing more to upgrade air traffic control systems, which he said are ten years out of date.

"The skies are not crowded, the skies are mismanaged by the FAA," he said.

In her remarks, Blakey touted a recent $1.8 billion contract award to ITT Corp. to build the first portion of a new satellite-based air traffic control system. But that upgrade is already almost seven years behind schedule, Boyd charged.

Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the government has acted in the past to reduce congestion. She noted that the FAA stepped in several years ago in Chicago and held "scheduling meetings" that led to reduced flights during peak hours at Chicago's O'Hare airport.

Bob Mann, an airline analyst and consultant, said a similar exercise should be done nationwide, though it would be much more complex.

David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, an industry group, said that any effort to reduce crowding in the Northeast should involve international airlines and corporate jets, as well as U.S. airlines.

Castelveter also said the airlines' schedules are intended to meet the demands of customers.

"The carriers put airplanes where people want to go, and when they want to fly," he said. "They're not flying empty airplanes."

Mann, however, argued that consumers might prefer fewer flights on larger planes that would have fewer delays.

The ATA's members include Continental Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Southwest Airlines Co. and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines.