Been through the HIGHS and the LOWS with USAir

[FF-US-FLIER]

OK, I normally do not post on boards, as I would rather read everyone elses, But here I go...

Ever heard the saying Rome wasnt built in one day? Well that is ture, but that statement can not be made in comparison to US (scareways). In fact when they built Rome it was undeveloped land. USAir back in 2004-2005 was like the major city is serves, a real Sh!t hole (PHL)(and yes I live in Philly so I am allowed to say that)If UsAir was a new airline with no 'baggage' no pun intended, then yes that statement may be true. But... USAir is not a new airline, in fact it has been around for years, and it seems like they just keep putting lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day, its still a pig.

Now to my observations over the years of being a DEDICATED USAir Silver, Gold and CP over the last 4 years.

The highs. To be honest with you, I have noticed back in 2004-2005 before the merger that customer support, agents, and gate agents were more friendly and willing to help you out. Which seems very odd considering the looming death of the airline before the merger was announced.

The lows. I have noticed after the merger that the agents, customer service and gate agents are rude, and will not want to help out. The planes are HORRIFIC, and I am not a religous person by all means, but everytime I get ready to take off I end up praying I will make it safe so I can see my kids again. Nothing like having disgruntled pilots at the hands of 100+ peoples lives.

The only logical explanation I can come up with was the old UsAir was sooo desperate to keep customers (as kepping customers meant keeping the co alive) and the new usair thinks becasue they are maing profits, they dont need every customer. I know it doesnt make sense, but again this is the only logical explanation I can come up with.

Going back up to the top of my rant, I think UsAir is making good progress, but they are in the demolition stages and are well away from undeveloped land to complete a rebuild. My only hope is that during this rebuilding phase, the new USair remembers the FF's who stayed during the highs and lows.

Now I have some horrible baggage, layover etc... stories, but agian who hasnt heard them 1000x before.

Now many of you may ask, if you call it us (scareways) they why do you continue to fly with us?

Well here is one simple answer. I live in Philly, and need to go to any regional, major city at a moments notice for work. I cant get there on any other airline servicing out of phl. so in order for me to get to clevelnad, or clt, sdf, norfolk, etc.. I would rather take a 45 minute flight then go through atl, ord, cvg etc and have to travel for 4-5 hours just to get there one way.

I am a frustrated passenger who feels like I do not get respect when talking to anyone in the airport. I dont want anything special, just when I show my ticket and it has CP on it, the agents need to realize, I didnt just buy that status, I flew my ass off over the country on your airline, which in return gives you a paycheck. Its a simple lifecycle. I pay for the tickets, you guys get paid. Why is that so hard to remember?

Sorry for the rant.

 

[autofixer]

Let's see...they took 40% of our pay and 100% of our future and we are supposed to be perky and bubbly? Don't insult the employees, the person to whom you need to complain is Doug Parker. His email is in the "US Airways Magazine". Oh yeah, he is the guy who just squeezed another big chunk of change from this pig!

 

[tadjr]

Let's see...they took 40% of our pay and 100% of our future and we are supposed to be perky and bubbly? Don't insult the employees, the person to whom you need to complain is Doug Parker.

Actually going thru PHL I wouldnt be surprised if many of those agents werent even here for at least the first round of cuts. Many not even for the second. Does green mean anything? There are a great many of them fresh off the street without any customer service skills and they arent teaching that in new hire class these days. Just get the basics, push them out the door and hope they fly. :down:

 

[nostradamus]

Every airline employee should treat customers and other employees with respect. Treat others the way you would like to be treated was what most of us were taught by the folks that raised us.

The buck stops at the top. Rude employees are the product of poor management, providing a poor woorking enviroment.

 

[FF-US-FLIER]

Let's see...they took 40% of our pay and 100% of our future and we are supposed to be perky and bubbly? Don't insult the employees, the person to whom you need to complain is Doug Parker. His email is in the "US Airways Magazine". Oh yeah, he is the guy who just squeezed another big chunk of change from this pig!

OK, then if you hate it that much, leave. I am sure there are other people out there who would love to have your job. Its that simple. Management is not customer facing YOU are. If you piss off the customers, then YOU loose customers, and YOU have no paycheck!!!! You are what makes the airline work. If you dont work or drag your feet about working, then YOU make USAir sink just as management would if they mis-hanlded finances. Its a joint effort, and there is a reason upper management makes the big bucks. Its America, all upper management is over paid, its part of life. There is one thing employees need to realize. We are ALL replacable. If an employee leaves, the company moves on, union or not!!!!

I am not here to insult anyone. But if there are 1000 employees that treat two people like crap then that is 2000 paying customers, who will most likely look else where for there travel needs. And guess what, your competitors are getting their money, like Southworst.

Now if those same 1000 employees treated 2 customers with repect, then they would continue to fly with your company, and in return would increase your paycheck. It should be simple to comprehend!



I have been a 10+ year union carrying member, and still pay dues to this day, but there is one thing I learned before I switched careers, Union officals only care about whats going into their pockets, not yours. Its time UNION america realizes this and stops making excuses for everything. Its not the same workforce its was 10 years ago. Everyone is greedy from the top down!

People need to realize, only you are watching out for you. No one else is. Its in your hands to make things better. I understand morale is down, but honeslty what would make it go back up? More money? Well if that is so, using the above mentioned where employees are pissing customers off, well thats sure not going to put money into your pocket.

BTW, Doug never pissed me off, the usair people did. It may be a reflection of management, but I am sure its the smug philly attitude of I have somewhere else I would rather be. If you are an agent, then its YOUR job. Crist its an airline. Most agents just want people to go away. Again, not a sure fire way to get profits up and money into your pocket.

You know what. Dont insult the paying customers!

 

[nostradamus]

A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.
- General of the Armies John J. Pershing

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> The planes are HORRIFIC, and I am not a religous person by all means, but everytime I get ready to take off I end up praying I will make it safe so I can see my kids again. Nothing like having disgruntled pilots at the hands of 100+ peoples lives.

Are you being serious?

 

[UWCactus]

OK, then if you hate it that much, leave. I am sure there are other people out there who would love to have your job. Its that simple. Management is not customer facing YOU are. If you piss off the customers, then YOU loose customers, and YOU have no paycheck!!!! You are what makes the airline work. If you dont work or drag your feet about working, then YOU make USAir sink just as management would if they mis-hanlded finances. Its a joint effort, and there is a reason upper management makes the big bucks. Its America, all upper management is over paid, its part of life. There is one thing employees need to realize. We are ALL replacable. If an employee leaves, the company moves on, union or not!!!!

I am not here to insult anyone. But if there are 1000 employees that treat two people like crap then that is 2000 paying customers, who will most likely look else where for there travel needs. And guess what, your competitors are getting their money, like Southworst.

Now if those same 1000 employees treated 2 customers with repect, then they would continue to fly with your company, and in return would increase your paycheck. It should be simple to comprehend!
I have been a 10+ year union carrying member, and still pay dues to this day, but there is one thing I learned before I switched careers, Union officals only care about whats going into their pockets, not yours. Its time UNION america realizes this and stops making excuses for everything. Its not the same workforce its was 10 years ago. Everyone is greedy from the top down!

People need to realize, only you are watching out for you. No one else is. Its in your hands to make things better. I understand morale is down, but honeslty what would make it go back up? More money? Well if that is so, using the above mentioned where employees are pissing customers off, well thats sure not going to put money into your pocket.

BTW, Doug never pissed me off, the usair people did. It may be a reflection of management, but I am sure its the smug philly attitude of I have somewhere else I would rather be. If you are an agent, then its YOUR job. Crist its an airline. Most agents just want people to go away. Again, not a sure fire way to get profits up and money into your pocket.

You know what. Dont insult the paying customers!

More money doesn't always equal better service. The unions would like to make you think so. Its too bad that these boards tend to focus on the negative side of things, but please remember for every negative employee who is down on the company that gives them a paycheck...there are 50 others that are appreciative, love their work, are willing to make it the best they can, and appreciate the customer. Hang in there.

 

[Jonnyd]

You get what you pay for, plain and simple. There are still some great agents in PHL that I worked with who've been there 17+ years. They hate the face that they bring these people off the street and those people are the one's that should be out on the street. At the same time, there are some agents who were brought in and are working for pennies and are the nicest people you'll ever meet in the world. They also treat our customers like gold. It just depends who you come across. Trust me, we're not the only airline with people like this. I've seen agents with Delta in ATL and with American in DFW act the same exact way.

 

[autofixer]

FF-US-Flier, I have been at this airline for 20 years and I have given and given and I have earned the right to say what I want! I have seen 7 of these CEO crooks come and go! You can fly whomever you wish; you admitted you had not flew LCC in a while and you only flew us because you had to. Take your own advise and leave! It is still a free country and you may vote with your feet or dollars. Oh you can't? You are stuck?

I do not "P" off any customer, I fly them from point A to point B safely, despite a 40% paycut and the theft of my retirement. Fear not, I am only here until I move and get my next business up and running. I hope you enjoy the foriegner who can barely speak English and has questionable credentials and background flying your jet...I know it does not matter...only price matters to the average American consumer. The American consumer always get what they wish for!

 

[sharktooth]

More money doesn't always equal better service. The unions would like to make you think so. Its too bad that these boards tend to focus on the negative side of things, but please remember for every negative employee who is down on the company that gives them a paycheck...there are 50 others that are appreciative, love their work, are willing to make it the best they can, and appreciate the customer. Hang in there.

Whack job.

"More money doesn't always equal better service."

The perception that one is holding the bottom on the compensation grid, yet expected to perform the same job as the top, is a prime motivator for negativity. It is not as simple minded as, perhaps, you. Please, the viewers of your statements are not as stupid as you.

Go stick yourself somewhere, preferably, and permanently, in the loo of your double-wide.

 

[FF-US-FLIER]

FF-US-Flier, I have been at this airline for 20 years and I have given and given and I have earned the right to say what I want! I have seen 7 of these CEO crooks come and go! You can fly whomever you wish; you admitted you had not flew LCC in a while and you only flew us because you had to. Take your own advise and leave! It is still a free country and you may vote with your feet or dollars. Oh you can't? You are stuck?

I do not "P" off any customer, I fly them from point A to point B safely, despite a 40% paycut and the theft of my retirement. Fear not, I am only here until I move and get my next business up and running. I hope you enjoy the foriegner who can barely speak English and has questionable credentials and background flying your jet...I know it does not matter...only price matters to the average American consumer. The American consumer always get what they wish for!

#1. I flew US 4 times this week. I am on a flight 4-5 days a week.

#2. I never mentioned anything about the pilots. (except for fact that i pray that I dont have a disgrunted pilot.)

Price does not mostly matter to me as I am 100% business traveler. I could care less about $69 dollar fares like southwest. What I care about is not getting my company robbed on flights where US owns the air space like PHL-CLT where its $1263 book two weeks out. That is outragious considering I can fly to phoenix for $400 booked three days out.

"The American Consumer always gets what they wish for" well that is a broad statment. I guess by stating that you are not american? If you are then you just placed yourself in with the rest of us.

 

[Art at ISP]

More money doesn't always equal better service. The unions would like to make you think so. Its too bad that these boards tend to focus on the negative side of things, but please remember for every negative employee who is down on the company that gives them a paycheck...there are 50 others that are appreciative, love their work, are willing to make it the best they can, and appreciate the customer. Hang in there.

Actually, UW Cactus, there is some merit to the argument. There is a widely held belief in the business world which is being proven on a daily basis, and stated eloquently by none other than Herb Kelleher--the key to happy customers is happy employees.

For some, no amount of money will make them happy. They will keep the chip on their shoulder until the day they leave. I will say, to the credit of 99.9% of the front line employees I deal with, they do not usually take it out on the customers. In fact as I have stated ad nauseum, it is the efforts of the fine front liners at US which kept many of us CP's loyal over the past few years.

With all that's happening, however, I do think you need to focus on the operation and making things work before doling out the "koolaid" to the employees.

You know I am one of US biggest supporters as a customer, but you can't have a happy customer without happy employees....this is no time to be penny wise and pound foolish.

My best to you all...

 

[UWCactus]

Based on the money argument, I am assuming that before US East took their pay cuts and lost their pensions that every employee was happy and never took anything out on the customer, including Philly??? I think not. I have treated absolutely beautifully by 99 percent of the east employees I encounter, the west is about 98 percent, but overall, they have been doing a great job, because they want to do a good job, they have pride in their work and they take pride in doing a customer well. They are doing this in spite of paycuts. But if you read this board..none of those people are on here to spread the good deeds, because they would get pounced on by the miserable.

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> #2. I never mentioned anything about the pilots. (except for fact that i pray that I dont have a disgrunted pilot.)

Do you really mean that, or are you just making a statement to elicit a certain response?