any recalls in 2007 for FA? Happy New Year

[Jetsetter2Ord]

Like the Non-Dairy creamer Crap you all brought to the party? To all the customers on here...what do you think about our new Award Winning Service Standards? We have always had as good an onboard product as HP. Most of us on the East follow all policies that make sense. Hey Jet have you been on an East 320 yet with the new configuration? If you had then you would know the Standards have been LOWERED on our side of the fence. And they were not lowered by us! Geez Jet you really strick a nerve in me!

Well if the 320 on the East are anything like those on the West, they I say no problems on my end! Its what we have had for years, guess your one of those FAs that are afraid to change to the NEW USairways?? Remember I MAKE US FLY!

In regards to the mini moos, get over it! The company is not going to spend the $ for liquid creamers. On the West, we have been using powder creamers since after 9-11, the passengers will have to realize that they no longer have that luxury of liquid creamers. Most passengers will either have powder creamer or they end up selecting another choice off the inflight beverage menu. Have you ever added up the cost of all those mini moos that go in the trash because they were not used? It all adds up to cost savings, get used to it, this company will find ways to cut corners to become profitable. Afterall, AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US!

The only reason your complaining about the powder is because you dont have the privilage to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading your People magazine on the aft jumpseat. You can always bring your own from home, or stop by any airport vendor and pick up a handful of free creamers for yourself.

Have a nice day!

 

[IMisstheAladdinTrays]

Well if the 320 on the East are anything like those on the West, they I say no problems on my end! Its what we have had for years, guess your one of those FAs that are afraid to change to the NEW USairways?? Remember I MAKE US FLY!

In regards to the mini moos, get over it! The company is not going to spend the $ for liquid creamers. On the West, we have been using powder creamers since after 9-11, the passengers will have to realize that they no longer have that luxury of liquid creamers. Most passengers will either have powder creamer or they end up selecting another choice off the inflight beverage menu. Have you ever added up the cost of all those mini moos that go in the trash because they were not used? It all adds up to cost savings, get used to it, this company will find ways to cut corners to become profitable. Afterall, AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US!

The only reason your complaining about the powder is because you dont have the privilage to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading your People magazine on the aft jumpseat. You can always bring your own from home, or stop by any airport vendor and pick up a handful of free creamers for yourself.

Have a nice day!

So the 320's out West have always only had 1.5 overhead bins for the first class passengers? because thats all we have! THERE IS only room for 2 rollerboards in FC. Real high standards!

You just kill me in one breath you go on and on about how much you care about the passengers. With the next breath you say they will just have to realize THEY NO LONGER HAVE THE SIMPLE THINGS they have come to expect, and they will just have to deal with it. BTW I do not drink coffee!

And for the last time no one aquired anyone!

This forked tounge business of your's is getting old!

Have a nice day! Oh and learn to speak out of just one side of your mouth!

 

[SKY HIGH]

Afterall, AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US!

SKY HIGH states: ROTFLMAOOOOOOOO. And, here I thought it was the INVESTORS that created this MERGER.


only stating opinions.

 

[SKY HIGH]

Its what we have had for years, guess your one of those FAs that are afraid to change to the NEW USairways?? Remember I MAKE US FLY!

sky high states: No one's afraid of change.
Mohawk/LakeCentral...Empire/Piedmont...PSA/US...Piedmont/US.....
What we dont want to see is a further degrading of the product. If we're going to become a cheap product, we should of just changed the name to AMERICA WEST.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiVJDpiwjks



ONLY stating opinions.

 

[USstew23]

Afterall, AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US!

Have a nice day!

Um yeah well expalain to me how that P-O-S airline out in PHX was profitable enough to buy anything?? If the almighty AWA was so fricken profitable then why couldn't they buy airplanes that actually went somewhere?? Just wondering how in 3 years they went from being known as "AMERICA'S WORST" to being this major force in the industry. Maybe you should stop listening to the voices in your head!!!

 

[Jetsetter2Ord]

Um yeah well expalain to me how that P-O-S airline out in PHX was profitable enough to buy anything?? If the almighty AWA was so fricken profitable then why couldn't they buy airplanes that actually went somewhere?? Just wondering how in 3 years they went from being known as "AMERICA'S WORST" to being this major force in the industry. Maybe you should stop listening to the voices in your head!!!

Thats quite funny! Afterall you were known as US Scare! And great handling of baggage over Christmas 2004!

We should have kept the America West name, taking on the US Airways name was the biggest mistake with this merger second to keeping those bitter employees on the East who continue to think its business as usual!

Now watch the youtube and think how many of your coworkers on the East treat their passengers like that! Trust me, thats the attitude I encountered flying on East metal!
Time for you to retire and BUH BYE!

 

[SKY HIGH]

Time for you to retire and BUH BYE!

sky high states: Retirement????
Ohh, geez, there's the pesky PENSION problem now, and lets not forget NO health benefits. Gotta PAY for them til you're 65 years old.
Nahh, I think they'll have those senior ma'ma's here til they go out on permanent disability or find a cardboard box to live in. :down:


only stating opinions

 

[700UW]

Afterall, AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US!

Guess you ignore the facts, HP did NOT have the money.

It was a merger and the money was raised by Seabury and Associates, working for US Airways, not HP.

Don't let the facts get in your way!

How US Airways/America West merger got off the ground
Talks between airlines began in 2003, but didn't get serious until this year
Sunday, May 22, 2005

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The on-and-off, 18-month courtship between US Airways and America West Airlines finally clicked into place May 12 in Washington, D.C., high above the floor of the MCI Center, where executives from both airlines had gathered in US Airways' skybox to watch a Washington Wizards playoff game.

Just minutes before tip-off, with the din of exploding fireworks filling the arena, US Airways adviser John Luth received an e-mail on his BlackBerry from Air Canada Chief Executive Officer Robert Milton. It confirmed that Air Canada's board had approved an investment in the combined airline -- the final piece of a $1.5 billion financing package needed to make the deal work.

Luth waved his BlackBerry, smiled and gave everyone the news. He congratulated Doug Parker and Bruce Lakefield, the chief executive officers of America West and US Airways, and broad smiles broke out throughout the box.

The merger was on.

Announced a week later at the Tempe, Ariz., headquarters of America West, the agreement between the nation's seventh-and eight-largest airlines paired a twice-bankrupt, East Coast legacy carrier with a younger, smaller, low-cost airline that does much of its flying on the West Coast.

If they can win a slew of antitrust, shareholder and bankruptcy court approvals, US Airways and America West together would surpass discount king Southwest Airlines in size, becoming the No. 6 carrier in the nation. Together, they also could usher in an era of consolidation in the troubled airline industry, which has lost more than $30 billion since 2001.

But there were several twists along the way, according to people familiar with the events. America West was not the only carrier to express interest in US Airways, nor was America West the only partner US Airways pursued.

The search for a deal began in the fall of 2003, when David Siegel was still US Airways' chief executive officer. Siegel had led US Airways through its first bankruptcy and wrested more than $1 billion in concessions from the company's labor unions. But even as the carrier completed a painful round of cost cuts and emerged from bankruptcy, Siegel knew US Airways was still too small and too inefficient to compete against discounters such as Southwest, which had already announced plans to start service in Philadelphia, a US Airways' hub.

Siegel was convinced that for US Airways to avoid the fate of failed carriers such as Eastern Airlines and Pan Am, both of which liquidated in the 1980s, he would have to bring US Airways' costs down further and position the airline for consolidation with another carrier. He explored several options.

Acquire United Airlines, the nation's No. 2 carrier. That option was code-named "Project Minnow," with US Airways as the small fish gobbling the bigger one.

Combine with British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which was interested in US Airways' Washington-Boston-New York shuttle, along with slots and gates in the Northeast.

Split the airline in two and merge the Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., hub-and-spoke network with one carrier and its slots and gates in Washington, Boston and New York with another.

But US Airways ultimately rejected those options. United did not have any interest in a deal and was too distracted by its own struggles in bankruptcy. Virgin Atlantic wanted lots of US Airways assets -- gates, planes, airport equipment -- to help launch a new U.S. airline, but all it would offer in retrun was the Virgin brand name. US Airways also turned down several inquiries from other carriers -- including Southwest, JetBlue Airways and AirTran Airways -- about acquiring the company's assets but not its employees.

In the end, only America West wanted both.

Siegel made the initial connection. He knew Parker and Executive Vice President Scott Kirby at America West. Their first face-to-face meeting was in October 2003, over dinner in a Washington, D.C., restaurant. They were joined by then-US Airways Chief Financial Officer Neal Cohen.

But the talks ended several months later. At the request of US Airways' board, Siegel departed from the company in April 2004. According to Parker, the first round of discussions failed because US Airways' costs were still too high. Siegel had started a campaign to lower union costs further, but labor leaders refused to deal with him, contributing to his ouster.

Retired Lehman Bros. executive Bruce Lakefield, a friend of US Airways chairman David Bronner, replaced Siegel and sought to save US Airways. He asked unions to help with another round of concessions. When that failed, Lakefield took the company into bankruptcy again and squeezed another $1 billion in concessions from the unions, using the power of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to hammer home new contracts modeled after America West's labor agreements.

In January, with fuel prices at a record high and doubts aired about US Airways' survival after its Christmas baggage meltdown in Philadelphia, Lakefield picked up the phone and called Parker, suggesting that "maybe we should begin those talks again," according to Parker.

But America West did not have enough cash to lift US Airways out of bankruptcy. It was up to Luth, the US Airways adviser, to find enough investment money to piece the deal together and give the combined company a fighting chance to thrive in the battered airline industry.

Luth and US Airways had serious discussions with more than a dozen investors. They all requested shared participation in a merged airline -- no one wanted to take on all the risk. The Retirement Systems of Alabama, which rescued US Airways from its first bankruptcy in 2003 with a $240 million investment, stands to lose it all if US Airways emerges from bankruptcy and issues new stock.

Luth went after the companies that had something to gain from an investment in US Airways and America West. Aircraft maker Airbus agreed to provide $250 million in exchange for US Airways' pledge to buy dozens of A320 jets in the future. Regional commuter carrier Air Wisconsin Airlines made a $125 million investment in exchange for a jet services partnership. The Appleton, Wis.-based airline will fly for the merged carrier on a contract basis.

Credit card companies may provide $300 million in order to reach new customers. And once-bankrupt Air Canada offered $75 million, good for a 7 percent stake in the new company, in exchange for the rights to bid on the maintenance contract for the new carrier's fleet of 361 jets.

Air Canada was the last in line.

Once its approval came last Thursday, employees at both airlines scrambled to obtain approval from their boards of directors. US Airways' directors signed off Wednesday, over the telephone. America West's board approved it Thursday, in Tempe.

Labor leaders were briefed, and a press release was sent out. Parker and Lakefield spent much of Thursday night explaining the deal to reporters before Lakefield took a red-eye flight back to Washington. Parker, who has been tapped to lead the merged airline, met with employees and went home. Before going to bed, he explained the deal in one final live shot with local TV, from his house.

(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1752.

Correction/Clarification: (Published 5/23/05) Air Canada, as part of an investment in the proposed US Airways-America West Airlines merger, has the right to bid only on the maintenance work that can be outsourced under existing labor contracts. It does not have the right to do the maintenance work on all 361 jets belonging to the combined airline, as described incorrectly in a story Sunday. )

 

[700AW]

Guess you ignore the facts, HP did NOT have the money.

It was a merger and the money was raised by Seabury and Associates, working for US Airways, not HP.

Don't let the facts get in your way!

answer this old wise one, had HP not been in the "merger" where would the financing come from??????

 

[l8rd8r]

That is because the senior mamas don't feel they need to work and therefore call off sick.

Senior Mamas bid holidays off...
Senior Mamas have vacation....
Senior Mamas took leaves.....
Senior Mamas ETB Rome, Paris etc...

The only Senior Mama at fault here is Senior Mama Nature...she single handedly f'd up you holiday. Please if your gonna blame and point fingers, have the facts. You know better.

 

[Itestwell]

Jetsetter,

Really apreciate your passionate posts. I think that you are misunderstanding us on the East. We are very happy that we were able to merge with HP, thus creating a stronger player in the all too fragile airline arena. We understand completely that we (East), were at deaths door, and will not argue that.

First, you say that AWA was profitable enough to create an Aquisition of US! You know as well as I do, that is incorrect. The carriers were put together with outside $$ to recognize the strengths it would create. Why are you still carrying on about who bought who?

Our major concern here is the massive "cheapening" of the inflight/airport experience that has been taking place at an alarming pace since HP took the helm. Understandably, there are problems with the integration of res systems/ airport facilities, but the product the customer receives once onboard is deplorable. It's a crapshoot at best. Everything positive we brought to this merger is being taken away or cheapened. I always laugh when I think how bad we thought we had it in 2004/early 2005 when our product was bad, and we were near death, and read about it in the paper EVERY DAY. Guess what? It is now worse!

Have you ridden on the "new" comfortable A319 on a 6 hour flight PHL-SEA? Have you had to stow your bag after a busy, exhausting day trip as a Chairman's Preferred on the "new" A320? Are you encouraged by the fact that you can still, possibly upgrade on the A321 from PHL to LAX because you are a US1 and there are 26 FC seats? Not for long! The product is being "dummed down" to a point where people are leaving. In droves. Believe it or not, USAir (ways) was, at one time, an airline that spent a lot of its time and energy catering to the "business person" crowd, and we did it well (cannot speak for West). We were given tools to do so, and I see those being rapidly taken away every time I sign on to read my company mail, and see the latest "revenue enhancing" project. Remember, we could have a 100% load factor with $299 coast to coast fares. Is that what we are chasing?

I feel we need to figure out who and what we are going to be, and quickly. East FA's are not afraid of change, in fact I would venture to say that over the years, we have been through more changes than the West. But when we see project after project from Tempe hurting the product we had every day, we become incredibly concerned. We are not afraid to change, we are afraid of alienating every business customer we have ever had. At one time, we did a d*mn good job of taking care of these folks.

Sorry, I feel better now. :blink:

 

[NYCDelta]

I feel we need to figure out who and what we are going to be, and quickly. East FA's are not afraid of change, in fact I would venture to say that over the years, we have been through more changes than the West. But when we see project after project from Tempe hurting the product we had every day, we become incredibly concerned. We are not afraid to change, we are afraid of alienating every business customer we have ever had. At one time, we did a d*mn good job of taking care of these folks.

Sorry, I feel better now. :blink:

Very well said. As I stated in another thread, all airlines need to figure out what their "product" is. We can't all be everything to everyone. I remember when I worked at HP years ago, I flew US from PHL-PHX and got a hot dinner in coach on a 737-400. I was so impressed!

HP's main competitor was WN. US's main competitor's were DL/AA/UA. Now, the "new" US is trying to find their "niche". I think we're doing the same at DL. "We're selling food-we're not selling food. We're charging for headsets-we're not charging for headsets. We're taking away amenities-we're adding amenities." Be careful if you take a month off-you'll never know what we're doing when you get back!

I don't understand why CO can pay decent wages, give good service, and offer amenities-and the rest of us can't. Even AA pulled off pillows, blankets, etc. My ex flies for them and said the passengers get nothing!

When will it all end? :blink: