Another rancid day in the NE....yet again

[Dont call me Shirley]

As of 2100 EDT.....66 mainline flights whacked.....and 377 express cancellations...lotsa delays over 4 hours....and yes QIK/SHARES is still a great big steaming pile of manure..... just one example..... customer rerouted on AA....PNR goes to "PN" status.....agent calls AA to confirm.....after 5 mins hold time friendly AA res agt says: sure, our flight is wide open...wonder why it didn't confirm for you...friendly AA agt books flight in AA Sabre and gives US agt record locator. US PNR is still "pendinG. US agt tries to change segment status in QIK using sundry "control this" "F that" keys...(Same entry in Sabre ".2HK")....QIK comes back with error response....US agt can't reissue tkt on AA without HK status for segment....calls "help desk".....35 mins hold time....help desk says..."oh you can't change segment status that way...you have to direct sell with a new segment showing HK" [not covered in the 2-day training course]....puts agt on hold for five mins and "HKs" AA segment....gently scold US agt: "you should never try to free sell an OAL segment....always call the other airline directly" .....US agt reissues ticket......total transaction time....45 minutes.....this would probably have taken maybe three mins in Sabre... ...

Next customer...decides to drive to LGA, but still wants to fly back. Wants refund for canceled outbound flight. In Sabre, no problem to do a partial refund. In QIK: no can do until you have flown return flight...(this is per "help" desk)....Another customer wants ow ticket for cancelled LGA flight refunded.....All the ATO can is "request refund" not actually process the refund...(again no problem in Sabre) .does anyone have know how long it takes the refund dept to actually process a fund like this?



I know, Sabre is never coming back......(Neither are some of these customers)

 

[JS]

...
I know, Sabre is never coming back......(Neither are some of these customers)

so true

I've flown to GSP twice in the last four weeks (on Delta, since I like arriving on time with my luggage), and both times, coincidentally (?), the US 5:20 PM flight to PHL was cancelled. The line at the ticket counter was really long with clearly unhappy people. I watched people try to use the kiosk only to be disappointed at the prospect of having to join the crowd in line to go nowhere.

The last time I had a cancelled flight, it was in COS last winter on AA (to be expected, it was a serious blizzard). There was no line at the ticket counter. The agent handed everyone a piece of paper to call, you call the number, and you're told what flight you've been re-booked on. On Delta you can do the same thing at a kiosk if you don't feel like calling.

You know, eventually US is going to run out of first-time flyers, and then what are they going to do? I guess as long as there are enough first-time flyers to keep the place running this quarter, it doesn't really matter.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

From flightstats.com (sorry for the messy allignment, but you get the idea)


Scheduled Tracked Departed Cancelled 15-30 30-45 45+ Ontime
US Airways 930 922 779 80 96 37 257 50%

Scheduled Tracked Departed Cancelled 15-30 30-45 45+ Ontime
Piedmont Airlines 399 394 284 29 31 13 83 55%


Scheduled Tracked Departed Cancelled 15-30 30-45 45+ Ontime
Republic Airline 253 252 199 9 21 9 66 52%


Scheduled Tracked Departed Cancelled 15-30 30-45 45+ Ontime
Air Wisconsin Airlines 567 560 341 56 39 22 140 41%

 

[philly rocks]

PB, I think another link for a DOT is in order!

Managers refuse to overbook flights for passengers who misconnect on flights out of Phl. It is a no brainer due to weather that the flight that can OVERBOOK will have many seats available due to misconnects. NO, our CHEERleaders just cause more animosity with customers flying our friendly skies!
Shares s###s and the new POC positions (which are plentiful now) do not have the authority to override a CHEERleaders decision.
NO BRAINER.

SHARES just doesn't work on the EAST metal flights. I works only on West metal flights! How many WEST misconnects do we have daily? SHARES not suitable for our east coast network. It just ain't happening. If this company , with all their auditors and consultants can't figure out that the only way to get the customers back and the airline back on track with all the money spent, we are goners.

ONE EASY SOLUTION THAT WE ALL KNOW IS PUT SABRE BACK AND EAT THE LOSS EXPERIMENTING!

 

[Doc]

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 7th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Our e-mail address is [email protected]

Whether you call, write or e-mail, please be brief and concise in the description of your problem and be sure to include the following information:

your name
address
daytime phone number (including area code)
name of the airline or company about which you are complaining
flight date
flight number
origin and destination cities of your trip.

 

[AstroLounge]

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 7th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Our e-mail address is [email protected]

Whether you call, write or e-mail, please be brief and concise in the description of your problem and be sure to include the following information:

your name
address
daytime phone number (including area code)
name of the airline or company about which you are complaining
flight date
flight number
origin and destination cities of your trip.

h34r: I give this information out to ANYONE who tells me of the horrors that they have incurred. Weather, mechanical issues and common travel related hiccups can BE EXPECTED, but the lack of communication, chronic cancellations and a poorly run operation needs to BE REPORTED. (Think of it as Punching Boy Wonder in the mouth for being stupid or having a new puppy and rubbing its nose in the doo-doo to help in the "potty training" exercise..........if the problem is SHARES, and apparently IT IS, D-U-M-P it NOW!! Looking the OTHER WAY and pretending the problem REALLY ISN'T There is BS.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

........if the problem is SHARES, and apparently IT IS, D-U-M-P it NOW!! Looking the OTHER WAY and pretending the problem REALLY ISN'T There is BS.

Again, the problem is QIK more than it is SHARES, per se. At the risk of repeating what I've said before, while Sabre is better, Native SHARES (at least the CO version) works well for a very good airline with a huge international operation. CO does have a QIK type "gooey" overlay, but gives their people a choice between that and the native system. Guess what most of their agents use. Then again CO has more respect for both customers and staff than a certain Arizona based airline. Look, I know Sabre is not coming back. But at least give front end users the choice of using Native SHARES. And make it as good as CO's version.

In another post that I'm too lazy too find right now, I quoted an article stating that UA is going to switch from Galileo (Apollo) to Amadeus (no timeline was given). Maybe being the only major Star Alliance player not using that system will make Tempe revisit its reported decision to not go along with the preferred *A platform.

Oh yeah, right. This is Tempe we are talking about! But a guy can dream.

 

[SKY HIGH]

I know, Sabre is never coming back......(Neither are some of these customers)

sky high states: <high five>........I agree.


Question for you, computer related employees.

I think we have a higher amount of "duplicate seats" lately, could that be a result of Shares? Or just summer time load factors? Seems like flight attendants are getting them, constantly now.

just wondering....=)


only stating opinions

 

[john john]

sky high states: <high five>........I agree.
Question for you, computer related employees.

I think we have a higher amount of "duplicate seats" lately, could that be a result of Shares? Or just summer time load factors? Seems like flight attendants are getting them, constantly now.

just wondering....=)
only stating opinions

You are correct one off many SHARES problems is group and same name PNR. When assigning seats and changing seats is very key stroke intensive and some times doesn’t even work

 

[AAA73Pilot]

[/quote]You know, eventually US is going to run out of first-time flyers, and then what are they going to do? I guess as long as there are enough first-time flyers to keep the place running this quarter, it doesn't really matter.
[/quote]



Excellent post. It only took People Express 6 short years to run through all the passengers in the New York / New Jersey area. It just shows history does repeat itself.

 

[Travelpro72]

We MUST do something about how this company is run and FAST. The way this place ran in PHL on Sunday night was beyond belief. I understand there was a bit of weather in the area which caused MANY delays but c'mon. Those poor, poor agents and the conditions they work in. Our captain went around the terminal to try and find the agent a phone cord for her phone, no PA system in the terminal, airplanes sitting everywhere. We waited forever for a plane to come from the hanger only to have it arrive 2.5 hours later. Now I know we don't have control of the traffic jams out on the tarmac but we DO however have the power to keep our passengers informed and taken care of. THIS is where we are failing miserably. Just listening to the stories of some of these poor passengers journeys on the wonderful NEW USairways sickened me. People trying to go to Boston since 2pm sitting there until 2am. Our flight sent to another gate with two other cities already on the gate screen. All the gates posting departure times past. No information for the passengers or the flight crew either for that matter. We went from gate to gate with passengers following us in fear that we would NOT come back. So anyway, we FINALLY get a plane and it needs fueled. Well as luck would have it the truck finally arrived but imagine this, WITH NO FUEL IN IT. I mean is this common? My God the poor passengers have sat around now with nothing to drink as most of the concessions are closed or OUT OF EVERYTHING. They had to get us a new fuel truck and in the meantime we waited for catering which NEVER came. We had not one ice cube on the a/c and were out of some beverages. Sitting and sitting, no explanations and pushed from gate to gate. It was one of the worst nights I have experienced in a long time. I DID get the chance however to talk to a few of our west friends who were delayed as well in the RAT TRAP called PHL. I think they said they were going to PHX at 4am or something crazy. Today was almost not any better as far as I could see. In ORD the fuel truck that fueled our a/c with an MEL'd tank. No idea how much fuel was in it. It had to be taken out then metered as it went back in. Can we just say that this place is a massive cluster F. I don't want to hear that "well other airlines are having the same troubles". That doesn't make it ok for this to happen. Mother nature is something we can't control but how this airline steps up to the plate to take care of our passengers (our paychecks) is pathetic and disgusting. We'd screw up a one car funeral.

 

[50N30W]

I know, Sabre is never coming back......(Neither are some of these customers)

No truer words spoken.

I spent a couple of years behind an EAL counter, and believe me, I was appaled at the IT ineptitude at this at this airline when I came here. There is no justification, save inexperience, for trying to run a global carrier on this excuse for a CRS system.

I feel for he front-line agents that have to deal with this ineptitude.

50N30W

 

[jimcfs]

I do hope that as a loyal employee who is customer focused that you strongly counseled any dissatisfied customers to contact the DOT.

The ONLY way IMO for Tempe to grasp the severity of the situation is for DOT complaints to remain high, which garners media attention and drive customers away. Only when the P & L is impacted will these folks react and make changes.

Perhaps we need to put this reminder in song... apologies to the Beatles...


When I find myself with Philly trouble
Piney Bob, he talks to me
They lost another bag of mine, D.O.T.
Another hour of delay
This BS, it really gets to me
Speaking words of wisdom, D.O.T.
D.O.T., D.O.T.
Tempe has to listen, D.O.T.

And when the broken hearted people
Flying in the world agree,
There must be an answer, D.O.T.
For though they may departed there is
Still a chance mis connect they be
There must be an answer, D.O.T.
D.O.T., D.O.T. Yeah
Tempe has no answer, D.O.T.

 

[REACC1]

That was great!!!
Best one yet!