Cost Control Suggestions

[AOG-N-IT]

LDKIAM, All true statements Sir!!

AutoOrder is a Boone-Doggle!!..Some of it is due the Acft being re-routed during the scheduled flight day..Not much you can do about Operational Needs impacting things.

Moving APU's for the RON's is getting a bit sticky..and it has always been cause for the stock in Rolaids going up...however our chances for B767 service between the hubs is almost non-existant anymore.


Parts not used..or in need of RTS (Return to Stock is a major flaw in the system..especially when you tend to run leaner than normal..or desireable on parts. Some of this can be attributed to Maintenance not turning them backover to stores..some of it is stores not reacting ..or being short of manpower tobe able to react. The smaller stations being one to three man operations total...also complicate this problem.


Another problem we have is things being shipped with FA for first available flight in the details entries ...This in itself creates a lack of control or tracking. My MO is always to use specific flight details...I encourage or rather insist the same actions be taken by those I'm dealing with.

The next issue for accountability..Is squarely on the Mechanics..both Line and Heavy Maintenance is guilty of failing to complete thier required DDE Entries...this leads to more and more stuff being considered lost...Note the AAA 491-001 locations for countless High Dollar Serialized and Tracked parts in the system.

You mentioned the use of Bonded Couriers being used..Well this is due in part to a direct reflection of the breakdown in trust of Stores to perform as needed. Many times in the past..Another Carriers Flight was failed to be met to retrieve our Emergency Purchases or Borrows..and the Acft in need , has to have it's ETR (Estimated Time of Return to Service) Bumped backward over excuses instead of results.

RON Auto-Orders also tend to get a When I get to it treatment from stores...and sometimes it's a direct reflection of the Ramp failing to load our stuff too.


One of my biggest complaints..is in regard to something that should be one of our greatest material and maintenance assets. The Use of the Acft's On-Board Parts Bins The Bins are to often being un-loaded by rampers..that have no business touching it. I have had hundreds of calls from Non-Maintenance Stations saying that they had our parts in thier hands..and the part is clearly shown located in the On-Board Parts Bin..and we again are suffering from maintenance not doing the additions and subtractions of the BIN in the computer. This needless to say creates numerous losses...and un-cleared MEL's

People tend to think that this and that is not my job...or it's of little concern to the operation. I can tell folks that subscribe to that way of thinking ..that they couldn't be anymore wrong if they tried.

The details do make a difference..It's keeps us accurate..it's insures accountability of Inventory , Ability to perform required functions with the Acft...and it keeps people from performing Wild Goose Chases for stuff..when they could be doing more important stuff....Basically it prevents wasted motion, money and effort.


Much of what is wrong with us..can be attributed to laziness..or a failure to give a damn...and it shows!! It also affects the cost of doing business too.

Certainly Bar-Coding would help maintain accountabilty of our stuff...and I know the idea was explored and dropped just as quickly a few years back...Until then? It takes a dedicated effort to keep things running smoothly. The operative term being Dedicated

 

[LDKIAM]

You want to save a ton of money well here is how and AOG can back me up.

Get a planning department that knows how to plan line maintenance and Auto Orders. So many times planning drops the ball and does not get parts to the stations where the airplanes are going to overnight to get critical repairs done. Numerous times we have to have air taxis and road trips to get parts where they are needed.

Another thing we have a problem with is the Auto Order system, this is a system where parts are ordered automatically to the station where the airplane is going to overnight, but with so many aircraft changes we end up sending parts to stations where the will not be and when we need to get a part we are NIS because they are all over the system enroute. We need to ensure the required work gets done and not defered.

Another thing is we Return to Stock (RTS) thousands of parts because mechanics do not do the work and defer it, so we have numerous parts in the supply line and not in stock.

Also we have submitted this idea several times and get shot down, we get a part PDQ on our own flight, yet they pay a courier to go get the part from our OWN baggage service office and have them deliver it the distribution center. What a waste of money, we are all ready at work, all we have to do is drive across the field and pick up the part, but nope, we pay a courier to do it. Sounds like someone must be getting a kickback from all this graft. We have had incidence where an APU gets ordered out to PHL and they call Eagle Trucking out to take it, when we have 767 service from CLT-PHL, we have to argue with the powers that be to put it on our own airplane instead of paying a trucking service $900 to take it to PHL and get there 12 hours later, when we can put it on a flight and have it their in a matter of hours.

And lastly we have no positive tracking system for our parts, once they leave their stocking stations and are put on a flight they go into part limbo. I can't count how many times we go on a parts wild goose chase in order to find them, they don't show up on the flights that they are suppose to, if FedEx can track a package we should be able to track our parts to get better control.

 

[AOG-N-IT]

Here's some clarification..anything for TPA 493-001 is ordered exactly that way , due to the short-turn time on TPA Checks.

This is not something we are wild about either!!..but it's the standing orders.


Regarding a part being ordered AOG ..and not on the first flight for PIT 435-001 or -1SR. This is clearly a replacement for a Robbed part off an Acft in Heavy Mt. for a line aircraft. AOG is standard procedure for Rob Replacements...and the choice of flight used was do to the Scheduled flihts for PIT or CLT stores to meet automatically , without being told to do so. In a Nutshell (GE) has done everything by the book , or the requested manner from our superiors.


I realize the AOG thing is a grossly mis-used term..but as far as general articles being ordered that way..It's a direct reflection on our Vendor Purchases direct to Station XYZ not taking place on time..Some of it is the Vendors fault...some is the fault of Stock Clerks , Leads and even Utility People waiting until the cubbard is bare ..and then Crying NIS (Wolf). We have to keep us ready to function some how..if they won't do it for themselves?

The one thing I can tell you with certainty..MCU does not do anything for the hell of it..We react to the need..but in reality we should not even be addressing some of the issues you mentioned. This is clearly not our designed function...but the system is so People Flawed , We become obligated to get involved.

MCU is the most abused/ mis-used department there is. We become the awnser desk for everything..If someones Computer goes down..Do they call the Help Desk? No..they call us. When maintenace in 50% of our cities can't find a part..Do they check the computer..or talk to thier own stores? No they call MCU. We are like the Default Function Key for everything from the Duty Managers down to the most junior person in stores.

This becomes a major distraction when we are working a real problem..If you only knew how many times a day I have had to put someone or something of real importance on hold , to awnser another call from some bafoon that's to sorry to find the awnser at his own fingertips. Sometimes we are of the opinion that we are the only ones around that knows how to Log-On to Merlin.

 

[LDKIAM]

Funny thing is AOG, that the nets say maintenance personel only and they label on the on-board parts even tells the ramp do not remove from aircraft. Really cant get much clearer. We have one maybe two flights a day between CLT and PHL that utilize a 767, because I shipped one up there two weeks ago. Aslo we have two foreman on dayshift that are haz-mat trainers and get paid several thousand dollars a year extra, but up until last week almost every stock clerk has been expired for hazmant, myself I have been out of certification since 2/01, almost two years.

Plus the ramp disregards AOG labels because some of you in MCU who are suppose to police it abuse it, so the ramp does not take is serious when we ship a case of toilet paper or paper towels AOG, even last night (G.E.), in MCU was ordering everything AOG, no tail numbers just for stock. Things like that cause problems, I had to laugh when I got an order for a pair of knee pads for TPA 493, AOG, that is the biggest crock, everything for the check in TPA being ordered AOG, I never knew knee pads could ground an airplane. Also last night he ordered a part ofr PIT 435 AOG, about 5AM but he set it up for a 12:10 departure, not the first flight, so that tells me it was not an AOG.

 

[diogenes]

[blockquote]
----------------
On 10/30/2002 557 PM LDKIAM wrote:

Funny thing is AOG, that the nets say maintenance personel only and they label on the on-board parts even tells the ramp do not remove from aircraft. Really cant get much clearer.

Here's the rest of the story.

1. Frequently, the parts 'bin' is stuffed beyond capacity, or the webbing is unusable/non-existent, and the parts are sloshing around in the cargo area. And a lot of times, the box is too big for the bin to start with. Additionally, you should see the sorry state of some of the labels as the boxes get reused. As an old timer, I was trained to read this stuff, and know to leave it onboard. Most folks with 10 years or less have never been trained to know and understand what everything is that comes off/goes on our aircraft - shades of ValueJet!. And, as the company treats us as ignorant rabble, it has become a self-fullfilling prophecy. Add to that recent events, and a lot of folks just don't give a damn anymore. Lastly, management will cut you a new one if you leave any local cargo onboard, so most folks figure, everything off, particularly in terminating stations.

2. The genius that abides continually at U placed the g.d. bin in F1 on the 737's. Amazingly, where CLP frequently deems it necessary to load cargo for W&B purposes. Why couldn't the bin be in R3, which only would get used by fleet service if every other bin was already full. The parts don't weigh enough to be a W&B concern. This was a major issue on the 200's, where CLP wanted 2500 lbs of bags forward (impossible with the size of today's luggage) before you even opened the rear cargo bin. Only U could take a plane that had operated safely and easy to use for 3 decades, and engineer it to be practically useless.

So, now you've heard................the rest of the story!

 

[chelebell]

[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 10/30/2002 7:43:32 AM CS-pro wrote:
[P][BR][BR][BR]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 10/30/2002 2:24:20 AM Res wrote:[BR][BR]In reservations we have too many specialty areas.....we should all be able to do everything....except maybe International...more cross training is needed...that would stop all the transferring around of passengers...and making them explain everything 2- 3times.[BR][BR]----------------[BR][BR][BR][BR][FONT face=Verdana size=3]I disagree. The proficency of res agents over the last couple of years has been diluted terribly by the wearing too many hats brigade. There is too much cross responsibility,way too much information to remember and store in a normal human brain, and not enough time dedicated to training and retraining to stay accurate and efficient . Additionally, Non general sales agents are taking calls, booking pnrs and making grave mistakes in policies,procedures, and non advisements of specifics that passengers need to be told. Many more errors are happening, according to history of the record which show a XTM or QSE location, rather than the UFO offcies of PIT1 INT and MCO.[/FONT][BR][BR][FONT face=Verdana size=3]Too much time is being dedicated to time metrics than education, and as a result, we are losing many thousands a day in improperly reissued tickets, among other reasons. [/FONT][/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P][/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]Just so you know QSE is Pit blg 7 and QSD is INT's other bldg. Both do gen res functions. QSE in PIT has intl dest/tktg/csd/intl csd and silver/gold/ri.[/P]

 

[chelebell]

[P]Chip,[/P]
[P]Thank you for asking a good question. I hope this is seriously considered by our management group.[/P]
[P]1) We do not need [STRONG]39[/STRONG] different types of airfares in ANY given market. Simplify the process and the relax some of the fare rules. How is it possible that another airline can allow name changes for a fee, and we can not? Or allow changes for a simple fee - not all of this add collect rules and applications. We spend so much wasted time just trying to recalculate the additional collection. By the time we have figured out what the customer owes, we have just spent the additional collection on our salary and that of any one who may have helped the rep (rates/csd...etc).[/P]
[P]2) Our customers are not the enemy. Let's try treating them like they need to and deserve to be treated. Customer friendly we have not been with the new procedures (especially the use it or change it before flight date - if not, it is thank you for your contribution). Where did this come from? And how can the reps be expected to explain this policy when the customer has a serious (and one that can be confirmed) family emergency that leaves the customer in a position to not know when or if they will be traveling again? [/P]
[P][EM][STRONG]If I have heard this once, I have heard this 10 times a day - I will NEVER fly your airline again.[/STRONG][/EM][/P]
[P]3) The phones are reflecting the above statement with a resounding lack of business. I realize the economy has a lot to do with that - but this is not good and we are not helping the situation by discouraging travel and making the fare rules so unfriendly to our customers. Please consider relaxing the rules. It may just make a difference.[/P]
[P]4) Another airline is supposedly still paying 10% commission to travel agencies. And that airline is still making money. The agencies still do a lot of business for the airlines. It can still happen. The online services are good, but there should be a warning to customers - any mistakes that are made are the sole responsibility of the customer.[/P]
[P]5) One thing I would do away with is advance seat assigment. We can not guarentee what we assign due to schedule and equipment changes. We create more upset passengers because of them. First come, first assigned at the airport. The only exception would be the first class passengers.[/P]
[P]Please understand...the amount of revenue you may initially lose by relaxing these rules, you will gain over time in customers. What we are losing now will take a very long time to get back. I know most of the major carriers have gone to these new policies, but not all. And I don't need to be the one to remind you who is quickly becoming a major competitor to USAirways.[/P]
[P]YOU CAN NOT MEASURE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE - You can NOT put a dollar value to it. And the sooner corporate America realizes this - the more money they will actually make.[/P]
[P] [/P]

 

[chelebell]

[P]Chip,[/P]
[P]Thank you for asking a good question. I hope this is seriously considered by our management group.[/P]
[P]1) We do not need [STRONG]39[/STRONG] different types of airfares in ANY given market. Simplify the process and the relax some of the fare rules. How is it possible that another airline can allow name changes for a fee, and we can not? Or allow changes for a simple fee - not all of this add collect rules and applications. We spend so much wasted time just trying to recalculate the additional collection. By the time we have figured out what the customer owes, we have just spent the additional collection on our salary and that of any one who may have helped the rep (rates/csd...etc).[/P]
[P]2) Our customers are not the enemy. Let's try treating them like they need to and deserve to be treated. Customer friendly we have not been with the new procedures (especially the use it or change it before flight date - if not, it is thank you for your contribution). Where did this come from? And how can the reps be expected to explain this policy when the customer has a serious (and one that can be confirmed) family emergency that leaves the customer in a position to not know when or if they will be traveling again? [/P]
[P][EM][STRONG]If I have heard this once, I have heard this 10 times a day - I will NEVER fly your airline again.[/STRONG][/EM][/P]
[P]3) The phones are reflecting the above statement with a resounding lack of business. I realize the economy has a lot to do with that - but this is not good and we are not helping the situation by discouraging travel and making the fare rules so unfriendly to our customers. Please consider relaxing the rules. It may just make a difference.[/P]
[P]4) Another airline is supposedly still paying 10% commission to travel agencies. And that airline is still making money. The agencies still do a lot of business for the airlines. It can still happen. The online services are good, but there should be a warning to customers - any mistakes that are made are the sole responsibility of the customer.[/P]
[P]5) One thing I would do away with is advance seat assigment. We can not guarentee what we assign due to schedule and equipment changes. We create more upset passengers because of them. First come, first assigned at the airport. The only exception would be the first class passengers.[/P]
[P]Please understand...the amount of revenue you may initially lose by relaxing these rules, you will gain over time in customers. What we are losing now will take a very long time to get back. I know most of the major carriers have gone to these new policies, but not all. And I don't need to be the one to remind you who is quickly becoming a major competitor to USAirways.[/P]
[P]YOU CAN NOT MEASURE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE - You can NOT put a dollar value to it. And the sooner corporate America realizes this - the more money they will actually make.[/P]
[P] [/P]

 

[jcrb]

[blockquote]
----------------
5) One thing I would do away with is advance seat assigment. We can not guarentee what we assign due to schedule and equipment changes. We create more upset passengers because of them. First come, first assigned at the airport. The only exception would be the first class passengers.[/P]
----------------
[/blockquote]

As a pax I have to agree with most of your comments, but on this one I've got to say NO NO Please NO!!!!

1) When I'm on business, knowing that I will be near the front, and out of the plane quickly means I get more productive time in the day, every little bit counts. It's why my company pays for things like Hertz #1 club memberships, 10-15 min saved here 10-15 min saved there, it adds up fast.

2) When I am on vacation with the family, knowing we will sit together, and that I can get a window seat for each kid, get bulkhead seats so there is no one infront of us for the little one to kick, etc... that makes the no-food, no-changes, schedule changed flights a little bit more bearable.

3) Speaking for me, I'm not small, in height or shoulder width, I live for a bulkhead seat, if you tell me there is any chance I would get stuck in random middle seats, you make AA's MRTC look very attractive.

[blockquote]
----------------
YOU CAN NOT MEASURE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE - You can NOT put a dollar value to it. And the sooner corporate America realizes this - the more money they will actually make.[/P]
----------------
[/blockquote]

Thats not true, you can measure it if you want it, and you can at least appreciate it's dollar impact.

I know a lot of people like myself who have a choice (not in a hub city) who choose US because we feel that the way we get treated by the front line employees is better than on other airlines.

 

[CS-pro]

[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 10/30/2002 8:53:00 PM jcrb wrote:
[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]5) One thing I would do away with is advance seat assigment.  We can not guarentee what we assign due to schedule and equipment changes.  We create more upset passengers because of them.  First come, first assigned at the airport.  The only exception would be the first class passengers.[BR]----------------[BR][/BLOCKQUOTE][BR][BR]As a pax I have to agree with most of your comments, but on this one I've got to say NO NO Please NO!!!! [BR][BR]1) When I'm on business, knowing that I will be near the front, and out of the plane quickly means I get more productive time in the day, every little bit counts. It's why my company pays for things like Hertz #1 club memberships, 10-15 min saved here 10-15 min saved there, it adds up fast.[BR][BR]2) When I am on vacation with the family, knowing we will sit together, and that I can get a window seat for each kid, get bulkhead seats so there is no one infront of us for the little one to kick, etc... that makes the no-food, no-changes, schedule changed flights a little bit more bearable.[BR][BR]3) Speaking for me, I'm not small, in height or shoulder width, I live for a bulkhead seat, if you tell me there is any chance I would get stuck in random middle seats, you make AA's MRTC look very attractive. [BR][BR]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]YOU CAN NOT MEASURE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE -  You can NOT put a dollar value to it.  And the sooner corporate America realizes this - the more money they will actually make.[BR]----------------[BR][/BLOCKQUOTE][BR][BR]Thats not true, you can measure it if you want it, and you can at least appreciate it's dollar impact.[BR][BR]I know a lot of people like myself who have a choice (not in a hub city) who choose US because we feel that the way we get treated by the front line employees is better than on other airlines.[BR][BR]
[P][/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P][FONT size=3][STRONG]There are several freq flyers who unequivocably have posted and rated seat assigment as bottom priority in their books and assign little if any value to the advance benefits of it, as compared to the benefits of flying SOUTHWEST especially. They have stated for the difference in fares it's worth taking the chance of getting a middle seat on Southwest. So there are definitely mixed feelings on advance seats or not.[/STRONG][/FONT][/P]

 

[geo1004]

Be careful how you ask questions...

If you ask customers to RANK things in order of importance, you may see that advance seat assignments does fall in the lower 50% of their cares.

Be more specific and ask the direct question about having or not having advanced seat assignments and I think your frequent fliers will answer a resounding YES we like advance seat assignments.

If my seat location on the plane is a crap shoot like at Southwest, that is a MAJOR hassle and pain in the back side. That may be palletable for the in-frequent flier, but business travellers will not put up with that for long.

 

[TomBascom]

[blockquote]There are several freq flyers who unequivocably have posted and rated seat assigment as bottom priority in their books and assign little if any value to the advance benefits of it, as compared to the benefits of flying SOUTHWEST especially. They have stated for the difference in fares it's worth taking the chance of getting a middle seat on Southwest. So there are definitely mixed feelings on advance seats or not.
[/blockquote]

As geo points out this isn't quite so simple as it sounds.

The value of a seat assignment is low. I won't pay much for it -- it surely isn't worth paying twice as much for a ticket with a seat assignment (to say nothing of 10x as much...) But it is a distinct differentiating factor that can play an important part in US Airways positioning. It does help justify a premium over SWA. (So would a decent cup of coffee.) BTW if US Airways is going to portray it as an important benefit then some effort should be made to improve the process -- it isn't very customer friendly today. Just look at all the effort that goes into changing them at the gate and on board.

A lot of noise gets made about how awful this is on SWA. But most SWA passengers don't think so -- if you want a good seat you show up early. Simple and effective. Sometimes things get in the way and you lose out. It has a lot in common with upgrade bingo on full service airlines.

Another reason why frequent fliers would downplay the importance of a seat assignment is that they pre-board. So long as that privilege remains intact they're going to have priority in choosing open seats -- so it's less of an issue to some of us.

 

[jcrb]

[blockquote]
----------------
On 10/31/2002 10:12:03 AM TomBascom wrote:
Another reason why frequent fliers would downplay the importance of a seat assignment is that they pre-board. So long as that privilege remains intact they're going to have priority in choosing open seats -- so it's less of an issue to some of us.
----------------
[/blockquote]

Also with preferred seat blocking at the front of the aircraft even when you don't 'pick' a seat, the auto-seat assignment is at least likely to be reasonable.

Actually I'm finding these days that pre-boarding is almost a disadvantage, there are so many US3's (and I suppose US2's) that sometimes it seems like half the pax are trying to pre-board.

Also if you are asking a very frequent flyer about seat assignment they may very well say it doesn't matter too much since if they are almost always upgrading to F then the actual seat they get probably does not matter to them all that much.

 

[Lynx_plyr02]

Farm out our Q checks.Close CLT hanger.Give pushbacks to ramp.Cut 1/4 more line mtc
personel.Save millions.

 

[Lynx_plyr02]

On second thought ,close TPA instead of CLT.