Above & Beyond Winners

[LCC_#1]

Again it's one of perception not reality as I can assure you the program is not rigged. Not even Tempe would be that dumb. However you've heard me say often that Perception is reality and to the individual it is. So the problem is at least two fold.

1. The rules regarding the program and who is eligible and all of the process required have been poorly communicated to staff.

2. Few if any steps were taken to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Once a contest or recognition program has been tainted by faulty assumptions due in this case to what appears to be poor communications internally the program becomes a demoralizing factor and IMO should be scrapped immediately and replaced.
Luckily the solution here is very simple. Have two contests exactly the same. One for the "desk Jockeys" and one for the "Prop Jockeys". This way you have no appearance of any shenanigans and you reward folks who need to be rewarded for their efforts.

Incentive programs WORK! However if there is even a hint of one being rigged in any way then it does exactly the opposite of what it was designed to do. If it were me I'd go as far as having a third party collect the cards and conduct the drawings in order to appear squeaky clean.

BINGO!! Maybe because we never had it here on the East Coast, the West was rooted in the rules. COMMUNICATION is KEY!! It just HINTS of impropriety. Having said that, I am thankful for the program and want it to stay. It's time to review the rules and requirements and writing/explaining them would be appreciated.

 

[olivia]

I would like to see the A@B program limited to folks who make under 50K a year...

The front line employees are the lowest paid and could use the extra money to buy
gas and food and pay rent.

Most of us can't even take a vacation anymore since our huge paycuts during the
bankruptcies.

It is discouraging to see pilots and executives in headquarters winning the big amounts...

I know everyone works hard and we have lots of good employees...but now I feel that
they should just give everyone a raise and throw out the program.
We'd only get .20 an hour or less but at least everyone is treated fairly.

A lot of us would like to go back to school and retrain for better jobs...and many are in
the process of doing so. But we have many folks in their late 50s and 60s.....

No hard feelings towards the winners...just think morale is worsened by the current practices.

 

[cactusflyer]

I agree the program should be looked at and possibly clarified. Also, keep in mind we have quite a few FA's out there that make more than 50K a year, I know because I've cleared more than 50K in the past. It's not just pilots/executives. Granted I flew a TON of hours every month, but it is possible.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't anyone at a manager level or higher excluded from this program?

 

[olivia]

OK! how about under 60K?????

 

[john john]

Directors can give a few out each month also.

& management


BINGO
They can give as many as they want
They are management and Directors

 

[Jetsetter2Ord]

They should bring it back to the way it used to be. You collect 10 A&B cards and turn it in for 2 postitive space travel tickets. It was fair to ALL employees that way.

 

[N903AW]

I sent in 48 A and B Cards for this last quarter and didn't get squat. I have sent even more than that in during past quarters and didn't get squat. Now, tell me with a straight face that someone from HR, who I am sure did not earn over 48 Cards this last quarter, gets to rake in the $10,000 payoff.

I would have been happy with a $250 payout after sending in so many cards....but the only thing that I did was LOSE money in postage for sending these worthless A and B Cards to the Corporate Office.

I don't care what Corporate Communications or Dougie says...this program is rigged and is bogus. :down:

The next time one of our Frequent Flyers offers me one of these cards I am going to just tell him to keep them...it is painfully obvious that they are not worth the paper that they are printed on and by no means rewards the employee for whom they were intended.

Why do I even care at this lousy airline anymore??

 

[SS255]

The next time one of our Frequent Flyers offers me one of these cards I am going to just tell him to keep them...it is painfully obvious that they are not worth the paper that they are printed on and by no means rewards the employee for whom they were intended.

That seems to be the prevailing sentiment among the frontliners at US: This is exactly the response I received the last few times I attempted to submit A&B's. It kinda makes ya wonder.

 

[necigrad]

I remember when I first heard about the A&Bs. Myself, along with the rest of the ramp, was pissed off that the Inflights and CSRs had a chance to get them and we didn't. I do have to commend the Company for attempting to correct this. Unfortunatly they've done a poor job. The frequent fliers get (I think) 10 a quarter. How many frequent flyers are there? I'm going to guess (and I wouldn't call it an educated guess) 10,000, a nice round number. We have what, maybe 12-15000 Inflights and CSRs? At 100,000 A&Bs and (for easy math) 15,000 likely recipients, that's a 15% chance to get one. To fix the system I propose mandating that the other NON MANAGEMENT empployee groups be required to recieve a similar percentage. There are about 7,000 Fleet Service employees. Assuming 15% that's 1050 A&Bs to be issued. Of course it might worth considering breaking this down by station.

The A&B program is an awesome concept. I think it's GREAT that the inflights and CSRs get recognised by the customers for good service. They deserve it. But why doesn't the ramper that kills himself turning a late flight get one? What about the mechanic that tries to get a last minute tire change done? How about the Ground MX tech that get the broken 35,000 pound pushtug (that's hooked up to the aircraft) fixed when it breaks 5 minutes before departure? And the ops agent that makes an unnoticed gate change that prevents 25 passengers from misconnecting? These deeds go unnoticed, yet an inflight could (and NO disrespect implied) could score all 10 A&Bs from a frequent flier on his last trip of the quarter just so they can get rid of them.

 

[ItsJustAJob]

I would like to see the A@B program limited to folks who make under 50K a year...


It is discouraging to see pilots and executives in headquarters winning the big amounts...

We also have a lot of pilots that make less than 50k/year.

 

[Doc]

Scrape the program give me a raise.

 

[HPearlyretiree]

I sent in 48 A and B Cards for this last quarter and didn't get squat. I have sent even more than that in during past quarters and didn't get squat. Now, tell me with a straight face that someone from HR, who I am sure did not earn over 48 Cards this last quarter, gets to rake in the $10,000 payoff.

I would have been happy with a $250 payout after sending in so many cards....but the only thing that I did was LOSE money in postage for sending these worthless A and B Cards to the Corporate Office.

I don't care what Corporate Communications or Dougie says...this program is rigged and is bogus. :down:

The next time one of our Frequent Flyers offers me one of these cards I am going to just tell him to keep them...it is painfully obvious that they are not worth the paper that they are printed on and by no means rewards the employee for whom they were intended.

Why do I even care at this lousy airline anymore??

Bummer, you didn't win a random contest. You are acting like you are entitled to win and no one else is. No wonder US was such a mess.

Be happy when someone else wins something, because, you can't change it, and your envy will only hurt you.

 

[UPNAWAY]

This whole thread pretty much sums up all our problems!
It is YOU PEOPLE!

I am done with this board it serves no purpose but to #### and complain about everything!

The company gives away over a million every quarter and all you do is whine and find fault.

You Easties and Piney Bob are the biggest buch of losers I have ever met in my entire life. Your lucky you found jobs at all!

STAFF DELETE MY ACCOUNT!!!!!!!

 

[freedom]

bah , don't let the haters get to you up and away ....

just sit back and enjoy it ... WE still have a company , as much as they want it to fail ... our quarterly results were far better than most of us thought ....

let them cry and moan about everything , meanwhile , laugh and smile at them ... i LOVE US AIRWAYS! HOORRAY FOR US !!!

 

[SS255]

The A&B program is structured to merely be a "chance" to be rewarded.......and to me that seems a bit unfair. It seems to me that there should be a payout for every employee who receives an A&B. At my company, any employee can nominate any other employee for a $100 cash award, up to $500 per fiscal year. The catch is that only employees who make under $60,000/year are eligible.