A Tale Of Two Flights (Dave Siegel Read This)

wings396

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
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And all of that good service with the way things are..we still give it our best....Imagine what it would be like if we did'nt have the ax hanging over our heads everday that we went to work. I still give it my best everday, even though it is like the morgue at my station anymore. We all have worked our best for years, but we know what our fate is going to be...it is just a matter of when.
 
wings396 -
I fly over 100K a year. I used to be a US Airways' employee, so I'll put that out there for disclosure. I try not to be biased, since I know how difficult it is to work in this industry. However, US Airways is doing it better than most, yet they don't get credit for it. See, that bother's me. I realize budgetary constraints don't allow for a multi-million dollar marketing campaign at this point; however, something must be done!! Dave show off your people!!! They are good! I beg you ADVERTISE!!!!

exjetgurl
 
Hello Everyone, (sorry this is long but have lots to say)
I just wanted to relay my flight experiences the last two days; one on US Airways the other on American Airlines. BTW, these are revenue tickets (bulk fare)since I am on a cruise ship right now.
October 31 - US Airways PIT-MIA (forgot flight number left at 8:40 PM)
The mood in the airport was lively. The spouse and I were checked in by a 20-year veteran with a funny sense of humor. Unfortunately, since we are on bulk fares we cannot get Dividened Miles, which I find stupid. Think about it; my bulk fare was more than a cheap e-fare,which is able to get miles. Anyway, that's the only negative thing I encountered. Since we were one-way tickets, we were S passengers and were stripped by TSA agents (who were nice), but the whole process is a drag. At the gate, agents again were in a good mood. One of them made a funny announcement about passenger so-and-so please return to the gate for your Barry Manilow tapes - the whole airport just burst out laughing. The flight down was terrific. Flight crew was super nice, lot's of one-on-one with the passengers. Since it was 8:40 PM I was very surprised to see a snack box offered. Very nice, flight attendants were always there to help passengers. Pilots greased the landing in MIA. Baggage was in the claim area before we got there. Overall, super experience.
Nov 1 - American Airlines (MIA-Bridgetown, Barbados) 5:00 PM
We had a very nice agent check us in at the counter, was very helpful in looking up the spouse's AAdvantage number since he forgot to carry it. AA did take the bulk fares and give us AAdvantage points. The agent offered to move us up further in the cabin, but we said we were fine where we were seated. Security (which was not TSA yet..) totally RUDE! Did not want to hand search my cameras. TSA did it in PIT the night before, no problem. I had to take out two rolls of film from inside the camera - wasted most of the frames. Being a professional photographer, and traveling a lot, this really irritated me. They kept telling me it's okay to put the film through the x-ray. High-speed professional film can NEVER be put through x-ray. Anyway, I caused a stir, but a supervisor hand-searched all my camera equipment. Okay, past security, airport is nice. Gate agents for American were nice, flight crew was a different story. The legroom on AA is excellent, that's the only good thing I can say about the airline other than taking my bulk ticket and giving me AAdavantage Miles. The flight was delayed an hour while they took off a bag since a passenger didn't show up. After take-off everyone was hoping for dinner. In fact, most of the passengers were connecting from other foodless AA flights and were hungry. Mind you, this flight is over 3:30 hours at the dinner-time hour, no food, just pretzels. Having flown AA too much this year, I figured as much. Flight attendants, snippy and surly. The guy next to me wanted a can of Pepsi for the second beverage service, the male flight attendant flying B just snapped at him: Sir we have over 150 people on this plane, we can't give everyone two cans, especially for those who consume more than most. UGH! It was awful. Poor guy. Then someone asked for a pillow, another male flight attendant said he didn't have time. The female flight attendant (a LODO) ended up getting the pillow, but wasn't happy about it. What can I say, I am just not impressed with American Airlines, never have been. They are a marketing machine, that's it.
Dave Siegel, you need to market your people. US Airways has the finest airline employees in the business. Talking with other passengers, they agree. US Airways can no longer afford to be low profile. You and management must step up to the plate and market this airline the way it should be marketed. It's a great product, where the people make all the difference in the world. This is one area that US Airways is definitely not bankrupt in.
Regards,
exjetgurl
 
I fly out of BWI, have for the last 12 years. The main reason I have stuck with US Air is the people. I totaly agree that the focus of US Air's (or Airwayss)marketing efforts should be directed at the greatness of the folks that make your it easier for us , the flying public. I know their pull out of BWI someday but best of luck to all of ya. BTW it just my opinion but why does it always seem the folks that work for the airlines are great and the people that run the airlines are idiots?
 
I do have a problem with what a lot of what you posted. [BR][BR][BR]I was flying into MIA last night(I am an AA pilot) at 6pm and the thunderstorms were surrounding the airport, especially for flights departing to the south. My guess is if you looked at other airlines departures you would find they were delayed too. [BR][BR]As far as the bags go I am sure you took some sort of delay but that's the law. If a connecting passenger fails to show up for the departure their bags CAN NOT go on without them. Any idea how long it takes to go through the various bagage compartments of a full 757 just to find a bag that you have no clue about size, color or shape(only the ID tag)? This is done for your safety and every airline does it. Fortunatly, it typically only takes 10-20 minutes to find the bag. Just so you and everyone else are aware the flight times have padding' built into them to take into account, things like bag delays, weather, ATC delays, yada yada. Your actual time spent flying is much less then what the airlines tells you. All airlines do it, even USAir.[BR][BR]As far as the f/a's go, they are the same at every airline despite your views of USAir. I have flown for Delta and Northwest and they all have great ones and poor ones. AA has over 25,000 and on any given day you have the chance of catching one in a poor mood. If you feel, in retrospect, that it warrants the attention of a supervisor, please feel free to send me a private message. I apologize for any rude behavior that you may have received, unless I was their and witnessed the entire flight I can not possibly comment on what might have happen between that FA and the passenger prior to you witnessing his behavior.[BR][BR]With reguards to the food, I agree. Their should have been a meal but those days are gone. Every airline is cutting back on food. What bothers me is how some people can complain on a vacation destination(not bussiness) about getting a can of soda, a bag of pretzels, a pillow and a blanket on a 3:30 hour AA flight and those very same people will rave about JetBlue/SWA or another low cost carrier. What do you get on a JetBlue/LUV 6 hour Trans con, chips and soda, inside a 737. Hello! While I completly agree with you about the meal, the general public has voiced their opnion and they are not willing to pay for food. [BR][BR]Just so I got it right. You got a safe flight for a descent price that arrived on time. I hope that on your next flight the F/A's are better if not do use a favor and stop up in the cockpit, we'll be happy to take care of it for you. Thanks again for flying AA.
 
LORD !! Someone needs a PMS pill...chill out!!

Yes there are good and bad employees in every airline and every industry. But as a very frequent flyer (US1) who has had to fly UA, NW and AA recently, I will take a US employee anyday.

Which reminds me, I need to write Deborah Thompson about the staff at the USAirways Club in PIT (center core club). These are the best example of what US has to offer in regards to customer service and being the friendliest group of woman. Thanks to PATTY, you're a bright spot for US!!
 
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On 11/2/2002 2:15:53 PM trvlr64 wrote:

LORD !! Someone needs a PMS pill...chill out!!

Yes there are good and bad employees in every airline and every industry. But as a very frequent flyer (US1) who has had to fly UA, NW and AA recently, I will take a US employee anyday.
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I agree, there are good and bad employees at every airline, even at US Airways. Besides, measuring the attitude or behaviour of a FA or gate agent or security person is very subjective. Personally I would rather deal with an employee that has the personality of a soap dish as long as she/he does the job properly.
 
G4G5 -
Are you calling me a liar? The flight was over an hour late!!! Barbados is ONE HOUR ahead of Eastern time. Yes, there was bad weather, yes, they were using one runway at Miami. That wasn't the problem. Flight attendants just weren't that nice to their paying customers - that's the point of my story. The fact that you are calling me (the paying customer) a liar speaks volumes about your corporate culture at AA.

exjetgurl (at sea)
 
PineyBob, Thanks for the kind words of support Sir!!

Imagine just how much better things could be..if our job security wasn't such a looming nightmare in the back of our minds?

Thankfully people seem to be handling these issues well , when in the presence of our Customers. That is truly a sign of professionalism....and the front line folks need to be commended for it!!

I hope you always get the level of service your money is buying...Thanks for your support!! We do appreciate it greatly.
 
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 11/2/2002 5:12:09 PM exjetgurl wrote: [BR][BR]G4G5 -[BR]Are you calling me a liar? The flight was over an hour late!!! Barbados is ONE HOUR ahead of Eastern time. Yes, there was bad weather, yes, they were using one runway at Miami. That wasn't the problem. Flight attendants just weren't that nice to their paying customers - that's the point of my story. The fact that you are calling me (the paying customer) a liar speaks volumes about your corporate culture at AA. [BR][BR]exjetgurl (at sea) [BR]----------------[BR][/BLOCKQUOTE][BR][BR][BR]I apologize, I looked at 651 for the wrong date. You are correct, your flight was an hour late. Again I am sorry.[BR][BR]My point was. You ran into a poor flight attendant and again I apologize. But the bottom line is, you got a safe clean, product for a fair price. That's what you paid for and I thank you.
 
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On 11/2/2002 7:25:25 PM G4G5 wrote:


....the bottom line is, you got a safe clean on time product for a fair price. That's what you paid for and I thank you.
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Sir, if you wanted customer service with your flight, you should have selected that additional option when you purchased your ticket.
 
You know, it's funny.....I hear from our passengers all the time how much they enjoy dealing with the employees at US as compared to other airlines. Now we all know there are good and bad employees at each carrier and sometimes the treatment you get just depends on the exact moment you happen to interact with an airline employee. We all have our bad days. But my theory on this is that we've been through SO MUCH as USAir/US Airways employees in the last 14 years (mergers, crashes, bad publicity, dreadful financial losses, an SOB and thief for a CEO, massive layoffs, and now....Chapter 11) that we've just developed a kind of you know, it could always be worse so why get upset attitude. We're a tough and seasoned group of employees and, dammit, we ARE the best in the industry!

And, exjetgurl, you SO hit the nail on the head when you said American is all marketing and image. Truer words were never spoken.
 
[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 11/2/2002 9:00:09 PM Hope777 wrote:
[P]G4G5...FYI, Conecting passenger bagage DOES NOT need to be removed if they do not show up, That is the Law![/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]So what your saying is Yousef Al Something or other, could buy a ticket from a third world country to NY with a connection through MIA. Then get off the plane and disapear, and his baggage would just go on with out him to NY. Not on AA........ [/P]
[P]I am having a hard time with your post are you saying that it's OK to leave the baggage on? Not in a pst 9/11 world.[/P]