Does US Actually Have a Boarding Policy?

[SolidCactus]

Actually, I find it interesting how FAST WN boards.....I flew them today (2nd Trip!!) and the flight was late, and they still turned it in less than 1/2 hour. They were very proactive--did the boarding explanations and initial lineups while the inbound was still deplaning. Entire boarding of a FULL flight took about 18 minutes.

I think consistency is still a major issue at US. While there is a certain amount of flexibility and discretion which NEEDS to be afforded agents under different boarding conditions, I have seen too often similar situations handled completely differently--even on the same flight a couple of days later with similar loads.

The problem is there is very little consistency from above, and very little constructive direction--when everything management tells you is designed to deride or intimidate you, eventually you just stop listening.......

art, i could be wrong, but doesn't it seem to you like southwest has more people working the gates than US does? it seems like gate agents from other gates come over and help out a lot. most of my southwest flights are from PHL, so maybe it is just a PHL thing... but they seem to have more people working on the floor...

 

[Barbell]

... Entire boarding of a FULL flight took about 18 minutes.

I think consistency is still a major issue at US...

Consistency, Shminstency. What this place needs is more Germans! I watched LH board a full 340 in 11 minutes flat. A full 19 minutes before scheduled departure they made the following announcement:

"Mr. So-and-So, report to gate 1 for Lufthansa flight 123. We are closing the doors!" And 1 minute later, the doors were closed.

Someone needs to tell Recruitment to hire more Germans. Pronto!

 

[YVINTERN]

Consistency, Shminstency. What this place needs is more Germans! I watched LH board a full 340 in 11 minutes flat. A full 19 minutes before scheduled departure they made the following announcement:

"Mr. So-and-So, report to gate 1 for Lufthansa flight 123. We are closing the doors!" And 1 minute later, the doors were closed.

Someone needs to tell Recruitment to hire more Germans. Pronto!

Gotta love Swiss Efficiency aka German Efficiency...they sure are Nazis out there I've seen them board a fully loaded 320 in seven whooping minutes and beat the rush hour in Frankfurt Mainz

 

[InternationalShannon]

Whatever, you can board it in three minutes if you want, but that doesn't stop people from running ahead, saying nothing, boarding early and then right before pushback saying that the three people missing on the TATL are related to them and they arent going without the rest of their party (who is in a separate reservation, or we would have caught that) and then we have to follow PPBM.

By the time the rampers have half the pallets removed, the idiots show up with armloads of starbucks and pizza hut, boarding passes in their nasty mouth, saying that "they just got here and they ran the whole way"

When did we serve Starbucks and Pizza Hut on board?

Cant shut the door in their face if we don't have the bags offloaded, so we cut our losses and let them on. It's frustrating.

 

[US1YFARE]

By the time the rampers have half the pallets removed, the idiots show up with armloads of starbucks and pizza hut, boarding passes in their nasty mouth, saying that "they just got here and they ran the whole way"

When did we serve Starbucks and Pizza Hut on board?

You (in the generic sense) can't have it both ways...well, I guess you can, but that is a topic for Galley Thread...but in this situation you can't have it both ways....you cannot condemn people for stopping to grab something in the airport to bring on board and then say, if they don't want to pay $2 for a coke and they want something to eat, then buy it in the airport. I think that you are just upset they didn't bring some Starbucks for you.

 

[TheMike]

You (in the generic sense) can't have it both ways...well, I guess you can, but that is a topic for Galley Thread...but in this situation you can't have it both ways....you cannot condemn people for stopping to grab something in the airport to bring on board and then say, if they don't want to pay $2 for a coke and they want something to eat, then buy it in the airport. I think that you are just upset they didn't bring some Starbucks for you.

I don't have a problem with people bringing food on board they bought in the airport. I even tell them that if they want a meal to buy it in the airport because they don't stock enough for everyone.

I do have a problem when a guy strolls up at the last min with his hands full of Burger King that he stopped to get and says "I JUST GOT HERE, YOU KNEW I WAS HERE WHY DIDN'T YOU HOLD THE PLANE FOR ME" after the plane is long gone. "You had enough time to stop and wait 15 mins in the long Burger King line.........."

 

[US1YFARE]

"You had enough time to stop and wait 15 mins in the long Burger King line.........."

Exactly, because US charges for coffee, water, and sodas and doesn't even give out stale pretzels any longer. I'm not saying that some people aren't idiots, but you can't complain that people should go buy food and then complain when they have to wait in line to get it and aren't there exactly when you want them to be. Perhaps you should make announcements in the gate area...something like....

Ladies and Gentlemen...We at the new USAirways appreciate your business. We are really glad you chose to fly us. Remember, though, your ticket gets you from here to there only. We charge for water, coffee, and sodas. We also don't serve any pretzels or peanuts. So, if you want something decent and for a more reasonable price, please buy something in the airport and make it quick because we like to close our doors early so that our on-time numbers look better than they really are. Thanks for your cooperation and if you are disappointed, just complain to the DOT--they are very familiar with our name and our customers.

 

[ussnark]

...... and make it quick because we like to close our doors early so that our on-time numbers look better than they really are.

That would more likely be heard in a SWA boarding area, where they are not afraid of the truth or afraid of poking fun at themselves, simply reinforcing an atmosphere of confidence and competence.

US yells at people, SWA accommodates them, if possible. I wonder which culture works better......

 

[InternationalShannon]

You (in the generic sense) can't have it both ways...well, I guess you can, but that is a topic for Galley Thread...but in this situation you can't have it both ways....you cannot condemn people for stopping to grab something in the airport to bring on board and then say, if they don't want to pay $2 for a coke and they want something to eat, then buy it in the airport. I think that you are just upset they didn't bring some Starbucks for you.

i'm not condemning them, I'm just pointing out how it is hard to get everyone on the plane and still be able to slam that door ten minutes prior, especially the TATL.

Eat and drink and be merry, just dont breathe on me and dont insult me. hehehe.

 

[Bobbie]

You're talking about food on board being a problem. You think US Airways has it bad? Try Continental or Southwest in Houston. When connecting in Houston (both Hobby and Intercontinental), these hurried travelers go to this place called Pappadeaux and come out with huge styrofoam containers full of things like Crawfish Etouffee, Gumbo, Fried catfish, etc. It all looks wonderful but it's the kind of food that has no place on a plane. Greasy, seafood-smelling styrofoam containers on the plane...they stink up the entire plane and the spills are atrocious...some of these dishes weigh in at several pounds and the styrofoam cannot hold it. It seems like the problem is worse at Hobby.

Imagine flying from Houston to Los Angeles (3 hours plus) on a 737 where you've got 10 people eating crawfish dinners, probably two of which have spilled it everywhere. It's just awful. And the smell...it starts out really nice ("oh, someone's got something good") but about 30 minutes into the flight, it smells like Bourbon Street on Ash Wednesday, if you know what I mean. The attitude is the same, regardless of the airline...smile and let them board...hand the boarding pass over, dripping with seafood juice, and board the plane...no questions asked.

I think there's got to be a limit at some point on the kind of food you can bring. Cold Sandwiches and salads are okay, but when you introduce hot, steaming food in substandard containers, you're asking for trouble. I wouldn't even insult a flight attendant by expecting them to clean some of these messes up between flights. With US Airways substandard sanitation practices, I think the hygienic thing to do would be to limit it to cold foods only.

 

[konaparadise]

I just have to ask this question because even though I still fly on US virtually every week, I still don't know the answer to this question.

I'm a chairmans. I was flying today, and I thought to myself, "why is this boarding process on US so inconsistent? Is there actually a policy? OR do gate agents just make up their own policies?

Sometimes, the gate agents will say, "now boarding passengers needing special assistance, and families with children under the age of 2"... SOME will say "and our first class passengers, chairmans, platinum, gold, silver and our gold and silver star alliance members may also board at any time" But this is ONLY sometimes.

There are days where I am at the gate where the gate agent says, "now boarding all zones" - without doing preferred boarding, although this is usually on express.

What makes me ask is, today, this gate agent said the usual, "now boarding passengers needing special assistance, and families with children under the age of 2". Of course, three families boarded, all with kids 10 years or older. Then she skips right over preferred and boards zone one and two.

I have gold on continental, I get to stand on a blue carpet. I have gold on delta, I get to stand on a red carpet, at US, I get to watch families with teenage children preboard while the gate agent says nothing, and then everyone boards...

I hate being a whiner, but I spend a lot of money here at US - I dont expect a gold medal, but a little bit of consistency would be very appreciated...

 

[konaparadise]

Being a retired CSA for 30+ years and working at the gates most of those years I can tell you this and I doubt very much if things have changed. We (US) does have a boarding policy and we were told what to say verbatim but we have a lot of agents who think what they say sound better and just refuse to follow policy. Now I might not agree with everything a company does, however when I m getting paid to do a job I should follow the rules or leave, but I can tellyou first hand how difficult it is to work with someone who wants to make up the rules because they don t want to deal with confrontation. My sister works in LAS as CS supervisor and she can't get the gate agents to use the gate scanners, they still want to count ticketsEtickets by hand. Local management is aware but nothing is done. We were also told when there is a delay we are suppose to make annoucements every 15 minutes to update even if nothing has changed and in the computer we were suppose quote verbatim what to say......very few did so. I hope this has helped you understand that most of the time its not the company but those who refuse to follow policy.

 

[YVINTERN]

Being a retired CSA for 30+ years and working at the gates most of those years I can tell you this and I doubt very much if things have changed. We (US) does have a boarding policy and we were told what to say verbatim but we have a lot of agents who think what they say sound better and just refuse to follow policy. Now I might not agree with everything a company does, however when I m getting paid to do a job I should follow the rules or leave, but I can tellyou first hand how difficult it is to work with someone who wants to make up the rules because they don t want to deal with confrontation. My sister works in LAS as CS supervisor and she can't get the gate agents to use the gate scanners, they still want to count ticketsEtickets by hand. Local management is aware but nothing is done. We were also told when there is a delay we are suppose to make annoucements every 15 minutes to update even if nothing has changed and in the computer we were suppose quote verbatim what to say......very few did so. I hope this has helped you understand that most of the time its not the company but those who refuse to follow policy.

You want to know the company's plan to deal with these people who don't follow policy in LAS? Massive Layoffs...

 

[N965VJ]

Consistency, Shminstency. What this place needs is more Germans! I watched LH board a full 340 in 11 minutes flat.

Do we really need more Coke Slinging Deutschbags around here?

 

[YVINTERN]

Do we really need more Coke Slinging Deutschbags around here?

Nothing turns me on than Nazis in a Lufthansa uniform *gasp* Oh did I reveal too much