A Memo To Doug Parker

singh4us

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Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

A Memo To Doug Parker

By MDefl


This is a memo to Doug Parker, the CEO and Chairman of The Board for US Airways. I would email this directly to US Airways but it is not their style to respond to complaints from people who fly on their planes every single week.

Please feel free to share your horror stories. I will list in numerical form all of the things Doug, that is currently wrong with your little airline.

1. Your insulting emails - First and foremost, please stop telling me how everything is getting better. It is not. See everything I am going to type below. I want to gag everytime I see an email from you.

2. Delays - Yes, this happens to every airline and at every airport and it is inevitable. However , do other airlines strand their customers for hours on end because their customer service reps do not understand how to use the “new reservation systemâ€. I use the quotes because I have heard about the “new reservation system†6 times in 3 weeks.

3. Service - Your employees are surly, combative and in many cases downright sneaky. No one can help you at the counter or on the phone. Even when your airline cancels a flight (which happens all the time now) your ticket agents act as though we are lucky to even be allowed to speak with them. I heard an agent tell a young woman who was pregnant and trying to get home, “what do you want me to do about it lady� On another flight an elderly man became ill and the flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board. Fortunately, there was and he was able to provide assistance. His reward was that flight attendant came back to him with a form to sign that would have transferred the liability from the airline to him! Needless to say, he did not sign anything. Oh, and the flight attendant was very nice (sugary sweet actually) when trying to obtain the Doctor’s signature. These are but a few examples of what I have seen recently.

3. Inaccurate Information - Doug, your website continually shows every flight to be on time. That is, right up to the moment when a customer arrives at the airport. It is at that point, that the flight will be cancelled and yet another traveler will be stranded by good old US Airways. Also, a $5 voucher after being given incorrect information by a flight crew on a connecting flight DOES NOT make up for the error.

4. Lack of Accountability - It is no one’s fault at US Airways. Just ask them, they will tell you. I called the 800 number pretending to be a happy client to see if they would own up to all of their current problems. Doug, your phone representatives (at least the one I spoke with) claimed the press was exaggerating the problems. Hmm…did you see the baggage claim area in the Philadelphia airport? This leads me to -

5. Luggage - This is an old problem that has never been resolved. 2 ice storms and hundreds of stranded bags later at the Philadelphia airport has resulted in the main stream press finally taking notice. I never, ever check baggage except plane side when I am on a commuter flight. This is where you can pick up your luggage immediately when departing the plane. Baggage personnel at Philadelphia tried to drive away with my bag, when, standing in the pouring rain, I yelled at them to stop. My reward was a US Airways person telling me to “calm down, obviously your bag is not in thereâ€. After writing his name down, they double checked and what do you know? My bag was in the vehicle and heaven only knows what my luggage’s final destination would have been if I had not spoken up.

6. The Condition of Your Planes - For the last 6 months US Airways planes, more often than not, reek of urine and body odor. Doug, you must not fly on your own airline or this would have been noticed. Try to fly in an annyomous fashion and you will quickly realize that your planes are not being cleaned. A 5 hour flight while being stuck in the last row next to the bathroom is never fun. Especially when you are a gold preferred (HAHA!) dividend miles member. Gagging the whole way due to the putrid smell only adds insult to injury.

7. Treatment of Frequent Flyers - Frankly, we are treated like crap by your airline. Your upgrade system does not work, your meals are a complete joke (when you don’t run out of them) and your “special†number does not provide frequent flyers with any service, much less premium service.

8. The Credit Card - I will vomit if I have to hear about the US Airways credit card one more time. Just sign up! 25,000 miles = a round trip to any domestic location in the United States. That is a flat out lie! Doug, you know as well as I do that to fly to any “destination†spot, US Airways doubles the mileage requirement. Not only that, but the bank you chose to partner with is the pits. I will save you from my personal horror story with them, but suffice it say they are a perfect partner for US Airways. Incompetence meets imcompetence.

9. Tracking Earned Dividend Miles - US Airlines belongs to a partnership called Star Alliance. There are numerous partners that you can fly with and still receive US Airways mileage credit. Up until 6 months ago, this worked perfectly and a customer never had to worrry about receiving the proper credit for miles. Then, like everything else with US Airways, it went to Hell. At first, all you had to do was call (the special gold number) if your miles were not credited and they would resolve the issue with you. Then, they started to require that a letter and a copy of your boarding pass from the partner airline be faxed to them. OK, it is not ideal and they really should have their act together but I am willing to do that. Oh, but that is not the end. The new policy, as of last week, is that a flyer must MAIL a letter, with the original boarding pass AND ticket receipt. Now, I have to be a clerk for US Airways. What a wonderful use of my time.

10. A Lack of Appreciation - Given all of the problems, one would think that US Airways would be bending over backwards to make the flying public, especially the frequent flyers happy. One would be wrong! Doug, how about this for a solution to regain some good will. Why not offer to deposit 10,000 miles (and make them count towards preferred status) to every frequent flyer account who has had a flight cancelled this winter? Standard emails stating that you are aware that there have been some problems just does not cut it with this traveler. You need to do much more to regain the confidence of your most important customers, the business travelers.

I left most of my personal horror stories with US Airways out of this memorandum. The examples I sited in the first person are not even close to the horror stories that I could tell. I have called United Airlines and they have agreed to give me the same status level that I “enjoy†with US Airways. As it stands now, I will only have to use US Airways when there is no other option. I will be decreasing my travel with them by approximately 80%. The truly sad part is that Doug Parker and his pals will be paid huge amounts of money and in the end will probably land US Airways into that unique free pass that exists for airlines. This is called bankruptcy where they can get away with not paying most of their creditors and actually begin purchasing another airline while still in bankruptcy.

Please take note Doug, that I did not resort to the easy, cheap tactic of taking a personal shot at you. Unlike your airline, I retain my class and dignity.

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Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

A Memo To Doug Parker

By On another flight an elderly man became ill and the flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board. Fortunately, there was and he was able to provide assistance. His reward was that flight attendant came back to him with a form to sign that would have transferred the liability from the airline to him! Needless to say, he did not sign anything. Oh, and the flight attendant was very nice (sugary sweet actually) when trying to obtain the Doctor’s signature. These are but a few examples of what I have seen recently.

[b

singh4us,

In these situations, we are required to fill out a report to the company as to what happened and all parties involved. There is absolutely no such tranferrence of liability. That I will lay my life on!

PLEASE..IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE A LETTER OF CONCERN, GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!

I am ALL for letters, but in one quick swoop, you have not only provided false information, but made the flight attendant and ALL flight attendants look like company drones that take pleasure in somehow deceiving and not taking responsibility. And that just is NOT true..ok maybe one or two.

The rest of your letter in unfortunately true and I applaud your attempts.

BTW, I hear the SAME complaints with my friends at all the other airlines. ;)
 
singh4us,

BTW, I hear the SAME complaints with my friends at all the other airlines. ;)

I would beg to differ on this statement. I have started flying other airlines because of all of the current problems at US - and things are no where near as bad at the other airlines I have flown on this year. Sure, there are delays because of weather etc. - but not near as many customer service issues as at US. I mean even AirTran sends me an email the day before my flight with a direct link in it to web check in - and it even works!
 
I would beg to differ on this statement.

Dare to differ all you want, but I have developed HUNDREDS of friends that work for other airlines over the last 20 years and I hear the SAME things!! Perhaps I should had made it clear when I stated what I did and emphasized "friends who work for other airlines". My bad. Yes, there are alot of increased issues with US, but the basics of smelly planes and the such are things I hear from my airline friends all the time. THATS what I mean.
 
Dare to differ all you want, but I have developed HUNDREDS of friends that work for other airlines over the last 20 years and I hear the SAME things!! Perhaps I should had made it clear when I stated what I did and emphasized "friends who work for other airlines". My bad.

From an employee perspective it may be as bad - but certainly not from my persective as a customer. They must just hide things better than at US.
 
From an employee perspective it may be as bad - but certainly not from my persective as a customer. They must just hide things better than at US.

Don't get me wrong...It has gotten worse. Its just we are always harder on our own.

I am perplexed by this group and I refuse to call us US Airways. As screwed up as old US was, they are NOT calling the shots now and it insults me to hear USELESS Air when we aren't calling the shots. Its America WORST and don't forget that!! ;) :(
 
You know I have to take one little issue with the above ... please understand I usually agree with our pax because frankly we are an OCF (operational cluster f*ck). But, to say that all employees are "surly". You, know, I am inflight, and I do the absolute best I can do each and every day for each and every pax. I have pulled my own food out of my cooler to serve F/C pax when the meals were not provisioned properly and I do my damn best to do everything I can to make ya'all as comfortable as possible on our dirty, crowded planes. So, please, do not insult me by calling me "surly" because even after a 14 hour, five leg day I know it is our pax that are allowing my meager paychecks to cash and I do appreciate each and every one of you ... even the ones that expect a wine list in first class and then berate me because you do not like the two shitty wines we offer!!!! So while I agree with most of your rant, please, please do not insult us, the employees, because the damn majority of them (especially inflight) are just like me and will go above and beyond for you, the customer!!!
 
singh4us,

In these situations, we are required to fill out a report to the company as to what happened and all parties involved. There is absolutely no such tranferrence of liability. That I will lay my life on!

PLEASE..IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE A LETTER OF CONCERN, GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!

I am ALL for letters, but in one quick swoop, you have not only provided false information, but made the flight attendant and ALL flight attendants look like company drones that take pleasure in somehow deceiving and not taking responsibility. And that just is NOT true..ok maybe one or two.

The rest of your letter in unfortunately true and I applaud your attempts.

BTW, I hear the SAME complaints with my friends at all the other airlines. ;)

It's not MY letter! Its posted by the author: M Defl on RightPundits.com and people responded to the Blog. :blink:
 
Why do people waste their time with these long letters. When will they learn TEMPE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. It's all about saving a few pennys here and there. A-WEST management is running this place into the ground. They refuse to listen to the employees!!!!!!!!
 
You know I have to take one little issue with the above ... please understand I usually agree with our pax because frankly we are an OCF (operational cluster f*ck). But, to say that all employees are "surly". You, know, I am inflight, and I do the absolute best I can do each and every day for each and every pax. I have pulled my own food out of my cooler to serve F/C pax when the meals were not provisioned properly and I do my damn best to do everything I can to make ya'all as comfortable as possible on our dirty, crowded planes. So, please, do not insult me by calling me "surly" because even after a 14 hour, five leg day I know it is our pax that are allowing my meager paychecks to cash and I do appreciate each and every one of you ... even the ones that expect a wine list in first class and then berate me because you do not like the two shitty wines we offer!!!! So while I agree with most of your rant, please, please do not insult us, the employees, because the damn majority of them (especially inflight) are just like me and will go above and beyond for you, the customer!!!

PLEASE PLEASE, Carry the DOT information that has been previously posted on the USAirways Board here. I believe the ONLY thing that will work is the MEDIA pressure from the DOT findings being published. Give the DOT information to anyone who complains to you when the problems are OUT OF YOUR PERSONAL CONTROL. I'm even thinking of having business cards made by Vistaprints.com (250 cards free with a small shipping charge) with the DOT info on it. If the company won't give us postcards for consumer affairs then let's hold them accountable at the next level by making it easy for our poor passengers to complain.
 
In these situations, we are required to fill out a report to the company as to what happened and all parties involved. There is absolutely no such tranferrence of liability. That I will lay my life on!
PLEASE..IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE A LETTER OF CONCERN, GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!

sky high states: I concur with LCC. While some of the comments were dead on. I think the author wanted a lengthy list of issues to add value to it. On the contrary, the medical emergency was probably handled, per policy and procedures.


only stating opinions.

You know I have to take one little issue with the above ... please understand I usually agree with our pax because frankly we are an OCF (operational cluster f*ck). But, to say that all employees are "surly". You, know, I am inflight, and I do the absolute best I can do each and every day for each and every pax. So, please, do not insult me by calling me "surly" because even after a 14 hour, five leg day I know it is our pax that are allowing my meager paychecks to cash

sky high states: I learned this a longggggggg time ago.

"You will always be considered, RUDE or SURLY, when they dont like your answer."


only stating opinions
 
I have to agree with the bulk of the original letter, except I do also agree with JMM. I have seen more surliness and short tempers among the employees of late, but to call ALL employees surly is an overstatement. Those of you who continue to keep a smile on your faces and do your best day in and day out ARE having an effect, in that many of us who would be gone otherwise are still here--just because of you fine folks.

That said, the issues mentioned cannot be fixed overnight. The fact is they are just now realizing how systemic the problems are, and even starting to fix things now will take some time and small steps to even begin to make a dent in the problem. This is no excuse for the fact that these things should have been addressed months ago, but I am trying not to cry over spilt milk right now.

Looking forward, what I have heard is that the pace of change and response will improve, but I am not sure what the end result will be.
Worse yet I am not sure how much longer the loyal higher yield customers will wait--I know my patience is running thin--I can only imagine how the rest of you feel.
 
Why do people waste their time with these long letters. When will they learn TEMPE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. It's all about saving a few pennys here and there. A-WEST management is running this place into the ground. They refuse to listen to the employees!!!!!!!!

I did'nt read it was an employee that wrote this. I believe it was a public forum blog and thats called "bad press" and I believe its from a customer.
I also believe its true in their eyes and thats what matters. THEIR EYES not ours theirs. That will get the companies attention through the bottom line.

We have never been in a better position to get the companies attention and get changes, than we are now...we are unhappy employees with unhappier passengers.

How can an airline be run when the President/Vice President doesn't have a clue about major issues in a base as large as CLT. Or when Management runs around gleefully in PHL asking if everything is OK. CLUELESS...I hate that for US, our managment is CLUELESS. We've given so much and we deserve better. Our pax deserve better and they've gone to get it. ELSEWHERE.