This Industry Newsletter comes from a USAirways flight attendant. Here's the rest of the Newsletter:
Hello Everyone,
Yes, I'm still here and yes, it has been three weeks since my last newsletter.
What can I say?
Well, for starters, unlike some folks we know, I'm not going to blame Delta or
Southwest. Unlike some other folks, I'm not going to "blame it on the
industry," nor am I going to blame it on aircraft servicing (i.e. lav dumping)
or air traffic control.
No my friends, unlike everyone in the airline industry, I don't blame anyone or
anything for the delay in getting this newsletter out. I've simply been working
-- a lot, more in May, in fact, than ever before. And it's just been one of
those things that I have not been able to sit down for x number of hours and
crank this thing out.
But, alas, here I am and there is so much I've wanted to talk about.
First, of course, there's the America West/US Airways "announcement." I say
announcement because that's all there was/is. There is no "done deal" and
hasn't it been refreshing to look around and realize that nobody is using that
term, "done deal," like they did way back when with the United/US Airways merger
was proposed?
I'll stick by my guns on this one -- I think the merger is a ridiculous idea. I
don't believe it will happen, at least as it was announced. I think America
West Chairman Doug Parker will regret the day he wanted to get involved in this
'thing.' I say that as if it's some sort of 'entity' from an old 'Star Trek'
episode and even Mr. Spock can't get a tri-quarter reading on it so Captain Kirk
just stands there, sorta like Bruce Lakefield, trying to figure it out.
I think if you're an America West employee, you feel like the carpet has been
pulled from beneath you - by your own chairman, no less. America West was one
of only three airlines to post a first quarter profit and surely they will post
a healthy second quarter profit when results are announced later next month.
Why oh why then do they want to get involved with 'the power of US?'
As we all know, the first salvo was fired by the ALPA-represented pilots at
America West who have claimed that they "would view a date-of-hire type of
integration as a completely unworkable solution for the America West pilots."
Of course, the US Airways ALPA unit responded, claiming they would protect their
pilots in the course of this proposed merger with America West. But let's face
reality here folks, recent history clearly shows us that the ALPA leadership at
US Airways has been more easily taken than a freshmen coed at her first
fraternity party.
Now, you may have seen some news articles that refer to this 'combined' airline
(I'm told its secret service name is 'Amways') as being the nation's
fifth-largest airline. This is deceiving and I'll tell you why. They are using
the projected combined Available Seat Miles of both US Airways and America West
to come up with the "nation's fifth-largest airline."
The problem is that the accepted metric used to measure airline size is Revenue
Passenger Miles and not ASMs. So why are they using ASMs when touting how big
the 'combined' Amways will be? Well, you see, if they use RPMs, you're looking
at US Airways (7th largest) and America West (8th largest) and the combination
would give you the nation's sixth-largest airline, surpassing Southwest
Airlines.
It should be noted that pre-9/11, US Airways was the nation's sixth-largest
airline, however that former lurch-of-a-CEO, Stephen M. Wolf, who always said
"you can't shrink to profitability" did just that -- he shrunk US Airways after
9/11 to a point where Southwest took over the 6th spot by default, you might
say.
So, using RPMs, 'Amways' would become the nation's 6th-largest airline. But,
the going-forward plans for Amways have the US Airways side shrinking even more.
You see where I'm going here? So the fact is, it would only be a matter of time
before Southwest Airlines (growing entity) would reclaim their status as the
nation's sixth-largest airline, once again surpassing Amways (shrinking entity).
And that my friends is why they aren't using the standard RPMs in this case.
5th largest airline -- yeah, I'm impressed.
Now, what to make of Bruce Lakefield.
We all know the brief history of Bruce Lakefield at US Airways. He has stated,
on numerous occasions, that he only came here "as a favor to my good friend, Dr.
Bronner." He has also called his $425,000 annual salary a "pimple" and said he
needed the money to support a second home in the D.C. area.
see:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04321/412404.stm
So why is Mr. Lakefield going to continue to have his foot in the door by being
the 'vice-chairman' of the board of this proposed new entity? Vice-chairman? I
mean, come on now, that's about as important a role as the assistant
commissioner of arena football. And by the way Mr. Lakefield, saying that the
"only option was to merge" is an insult to every employee who has given multiple
wage concessions, work rule changes, and seen their pensions slashed so that you
(i.e. management) could run the airline as a stand-alone carrier which, by the
way, management said was the plan all along. Wolf said it, Siegel said it and
Lakefield, when asked if US Airways was being shopped around replied, "to who -
I don't know of any?" So the "stand-alone-carrier" thing was just a
mis-statement I guess.
You can go back and look at the press release on this deal
http://www.usairways.com/about/press/nw_05_0519.htm and despite all the "revenue
synergies" and "customer-friendly pricing" and "most efficient work groups in
the industry" -- well, it all looks good on paper. But as any coach will tell
you, "you don't play the game on paper." I assure you folks, it will never
happen as published.
They claim that this airline will be profitable at oil prices above $50/barrel.
(I'm laughing, too) I can't wait for the excuse -- because, especially in the
case of US Airways, there is ALWAYS an excuse. (Remember "They're coming to
kill us."?)
But at the end of the day, if you ask me which airline management team I'd like
to see running the 'entity,' I think we all know the answer to that. Go West,
young man!
By the way, Judge Mitchell still hasn't ruled on the bonus $$ for US Airways.
Maybe he thinks the concern over this issue will just 'go away' with time. Will
he finally break tradition and say "no," or will he continue his rubber stamp
ways? Hopefully, we'll find out soon.
THERE'S SO MUCH MORE:
Wow, let's see now, the DOT report is out; former US Airways stooges Dave Siegel
and Neal Cohen are in the news; Spirit Air, who's CEO is former US Airways
marketing guy Ben Baldanza, has a new plane, which they christened "The Spirit
of the Baldanza." So, let's get started with the DOT report.
This DOT report, like all others, is designed to assist consumers with
information on the quality of services, or lack thereof, provided by the 19
reporting airlines. Here's the data for April, 2005:
ON-TIME:
1- Hawaiian Airlines ... 95.6%
2- ATA Airlines ... 89.0
3- Skywest Airlines ... 87.6
4- Southwest Airlines ... 86.7
5- Comair ... 85.5
6- America West Airlines ... 85.2
7- United Airlines ... 84.8
8- Independence Air ... 84.6
9- American Airlines ... 84.4
10- Northwest Airlines ... 83.7
11- Delta Air Lines ... 82.6
12- American Eagle Airlines ... 82.1
13- ExpressJet Airlines ... 81.7
14- Continental Airlines ... 80.4
15- US Airways ... 80.0
16- AirTran Airways ... 78.8
17- Atlantic Southeast Airlines ... 77.3
18- JetBlue Airways ... 77.0
19- Alaska Airlines ... 77.0
(Average: 83.4%)
Now, last month I wrote about, what I called, a 'disturbing trend' developing
for JetBlue Airways regarding on-time. I heard from some JetBlue employees, as
well as some of their frequent flyers, who told me that bad weather was the
cause of this. Bad weather my ass.
JetBlue's on-time problems are now chronic. In fact, according to the DOT,
JetBlue is now the worst on-time carrier. To give you an example:
In the fourth quarter (Oct., Nov., Dec.) of 2003, JetBlue ranked first among all
carriers for on-time.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, JetBlue slipped to 5th.
In the first quarter (Jan., Feb., Mar.) of 2004, JetBlue ranked 2nd.
In the first quarter of 2005, JetBlue ranked 19th - dead last.
In the 12 months ending April 2004, JetBlue ranked #1.
In the 12 months ending April 2005, JetBlue has fallen to #12.
Bad weather is not to blame here. US Airways' Mainline and Express flights
encounter more bad weather than JetBlue could ever imagine. You gonna tell me
there's bad weather above New York's Kennedy (JetBlue's home) and not a few
miles away at LaGuardia? Please. For the past five months, JetBlue ranks dead
last in on-time, and I don't recall a lot of bad weather in April. So, unless
things change, dramatically, in the coming months, JetBlue's problem is now
chronic. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy your in-seat satellite TV -- and you'll
likely to have plenty of extra time to watch the end of your favorite show.
WORST FLIGHTS OF THE MONTH:
Congratulations to Comair for having the most delayed flight for April.
Comair's flight 5322 from JFK-CLT was late nearly 97% of the time by an average
of 57 minutes.
The rest of the field:
AirTran's flight 47 from ATL-LAS was late 83% of the time by an average of 41
minutes.
Southwest's flight 1660 from LAS-PHX was late 81% of the time by an average of
30 minutes.
AirTran's flight 576 from ATL-EWR was late 80% of the time by an average of 66
minutes.
AirTran's flight 753 from PHL-FLL was late 80% of the time by an average of 32
minutes.
US AIRWAYS' ON-TIME ARRIVAL PERCENTAGE AT THEIR HUBS AND FOCUS CITIES:
HUBS:
1- CLT ... 84.9%
2- PHL ... 78.0
FOCUS CITIES:
1- PIT ... 84.4%
2- DCA ... 83.8
3- BOS ... 80.8
4- LGA ... 76.1
5- FLL ... 66.8
FOCUS ON PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
Well, there was a slight, and I do mean SLIGHT, improvement at PHL for on-time
arrivals for April. Last month, I told you that for March 2005, US Airways
placed 30th on the list (of the 33 major airports reported in the DOT's report).
For April, PHL was still one of the worst airports in the country, but it moved
'up' (if you can call it that) to 29th place with an on-time arrival percentage
of 77.4. Only FLL (77.2), JFK (74.1), LGA (73.5) and EWR (72.4) were worse.
However, when it came to on-time departures, you-know-who was the worst. PHL
posted an on-time departure percentage of 78.0, and that my friends was the
bottom of the barrel.
The worst time to arrive at PHL in April was between 10:00p-10:59p, when only
62.4% of flights arrived on time.
The worst time to depart PHL in April was between 6:00p-6:59p, when only 64.7%
of flights departed on time.
How do other airlines do for on-time arrivals at PHL you might ask?
American ... 82.3%
Continental ... 76.7
Delta ... 74.0
AirTran ... 75.1
America West ... 69.3
Northwest ... 68.3
Comair ... 81.5
United ... 72.1
Southwest ... 82.9
OVERALL NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS BY CARRIER:
(worst to best for April)
19- Atlantic Southeast cancelled 950 flights, or 3.8% of their operations.
18- American Eagle cancelled 987 flights, or 2.3% of their operations.
17- Comair cancelled 641 flights, or 2.0% of their operations.
16- United cancelled 734 flights, or 1.9% of their operations.
15- Alaska cancelled 236 flights, or 1.9% of their operations.
14- Skywest cancelled 774 flights, or 1.8% of their operations.
13- Delta cancelled 1,016 flights, or 1.8% of their operations.
12- US Airways cancelled 459 flights, or 1.2% of their operations.
11- Independence Air cancelled 151 flights, or 1.2% of their operations.
10- AirTran cancelled 148 flights, or 0.9% of their operations.
9- ExpressJet cancelled 256 flights, or 0.8% of their operations.
8- Northwest cancelled 317 flights, or 0.7% of their operations.
7- America West cancelled 104 flights, or 0.6% of their operations.
6- American cancelled 358 flights, or 0.6% of their operations.
5- JetBlue cancelled 43 flights, or 0.5% of their operations.
4- ATA cancelled 16 flights, or 0.4% of their operations.
3- Southwest cancelled 285 flights, or 0.3% of their operations.
2- Continental cancelled 52 flights, or 0.2% of their operations.
1- Hawaiian cancelled 5 flights, or 0.1% of their operations.
(These 19 carriers cancelled a total of 7,532 flights in April, which equates to
1.3% of their total scheduled operations. Additionally, there were 781
diversions in April)
MISHANDLED BAGGAGE:
(Reports per 1,000 passengers - best to worst)
1- Hawaiian ... 2.90
2- Independence ... 2.91
3- Continental ... 3.05
4- United ... 3.08
5- JetBlue ... 3.10
6- Southwest ... 3.25
7- Alaska ... 3.31
8- America West ... 3.39
9- ATA ... 3.58
10- AirTran ... 3.63
11- Northwest ... 3.72
12- American ... 4.69
13- ExpressJet ... 5.19
14- Delta ... 6.51
15- American Eagle ... 7.67
16- Skywest ... 8.26
17- Comair ... 9.83
18- US Airways ... 10.91 (never underestimate the power of US)
19- Atlantic Southeast ... 15.75
(Average: 5.18 reports per 1,000 passengers)
CONSUMER COMPLAINTS:
(Complaints per 100,000 enplanements - best to worst)
1- Southwest ... 0.11
2- ExpressJet ... 0.16
3- JetBlue ... 0.33
4- Alaska ... 0.37
5- Skywest ... 0.46
6- Independence ... 0.59
7- Comair ... 0.63
8- American Eagle ... 0.69
9- America West ... 0.81
10- United ... 0.83
11- AirTran ... 0.83
12- Hawaiian ... 0.88
13- Atlantic Southeast ... 0.90
14- Northwest ... 0.94
15- Delta ... 0.95
16- ATA ... 0.96
17- Continental ... 1.04
18- American ... 1.08
19- US Airways ... 1.27 (all together, on time)
(Average: 0.79 complaints per 100,000 enplanements)
As you can see, US Airways ended up on the 'dark side' of April's report in
every category.
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) COMPLAINTS:
For April, 2005 there were:
223 complaints regarding TSA courtesy, or lack thereof
75 complaints regarding screening procedures
21 complaints regarding processing time
549 complaints regarding personal property
223 checkpoint damage claims reports
75 checked baggage (TSA and/or airline) damage claims reports
CORRECTION:
I've just been informed by the girls in my research department that Spirit Air
has named their newest Airbus 'The Spirit of the Bahamas' and not 'The Spirit of
the Baldanza' as reported earlier in this newsletter. John McCorkle's
Newsletter regrets any confusion this may have caused.
http://www.spiritair.com/welcome.aspx?pg=p...ID=2&StartRow=1
FRICK & FRACK:
Okay, what would a newsletter be without catching up with two of our dearest
friends, Neal 'I-don't-know-what-my-compensation-package-is-worth' Cohen and Mr.
Labor-friendly himself, Dave 'I'm-not-going-to-take-the-money-and-run' Siegel?
First up, Neal Cohen. When he took over the job of CFO at Northwest Airlines
recently, after his one-year hiatus spending his severance money from US
Airways, his buddy Dave Siegel said that Cohen was the best at cutting non-labor
costs. Well, in the few weeks he's been on the job, Neal has made two
incredibly cunning decisions for Northwest: eliminate pretzels and magazines.
Wow! Who woulda thunk it? These two moves will save Northwest about $2.5
million annually which, ironically, is about what he took from US Airways in
severance. According to well-placed sources, Neal's next move is to have the
person who grates the Mozzarella cheese on the salads to grate only one stroke
per salad, versus the standard three. This move will eliminate 16 tiny strands
of Mozzarella cheese per salad, saving the airline roughly $691.82 per month.
And now to "they're coming to kill us" Dave Siegel, the current CEO of Gate
Gourmet. I'm sorry folks, but the situation there is just laughable to me.
Since Dave's arrival, some of Gate Gourmet's facilities have been found infested
with rodent droppings, pink slime, etc. A lawsuit has been filed against Gate
Gourmet for serving contaminated carrots on flights out of Honolulu last year,
which caused 45 people to suffer food poisoning across 22 states, Japan,
Australia and American Samoa. It's just amazing.
And then, there's the escalating labor problems, which oddly seem to follow
Siegel wherever he goes. You see, Gate Gourmet's U.S. employees have said,
basically, "screw you," to a new cost-cutting contract which, according to Gate
Gourmet, "would have achieved necessary labor cost reductions as part of its
ongoing restructuring efforts." My oh my, doesn't that sound so familiar?
It gets better.
Gate Gourmet, in a statement, went on to say that "in light of the balloting
results, Gate Gourmet is reviewing its options going forward. Our strong
preference remains to reach consensual agreements with the labor groups that
will provide the savings critical to a successful restructuring." Man, that's
like the exact crap we heard from US Airways when Siegel was CEO there. Of
course, it could be because it was written by one John Bronson, the managing
director of corporate communications for Gate Gourmet. Correct me if I'm wrong,
but could that be the same John Bronson who was head of US Airways' corporate
communications not too long ago?
Anyway, I just laughed at the press release because it's the same modus operandi
that was used at US Airways. You can read the press release for yourself by
going to:
http://www.gategourmet.com/797/828/2889/2895/2896.asp
Dave said recently that he still hears from US Airways employees and that "99
out of 100" emails were positive. Quit lying dude. You can prove him wrong, if
you want.
[email protected]
1-703-964-2310
Oh yeah, Amtrak's gonna renegotiate their $73 million-a-year contract with Gate
Gourmet. See the article:
http://washingtontimes.com/business/200506...02451-9403r.htm
OH, THE EXCITEMENT:
It might be some time before you actually get to fly on the Airbus double-decker
A380. But at least you can get an 'idea' of what it will be like. Check out
the trailer for the movie 'FlightPlan,' where the only thing missing is a pot of
hot coffee scalding a little child because the goofy little half-sized beverage
cart tipped over.
http://touchstone.movies.go.com/index.html?dlink=flightplan
Oh yeah, if you want to say "hello" to Doug Parker, chairman of America West:
[email protected]
Seems like a nice guy.
SPEAKING OF AMERICA WEST:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/060...ilots08-ON.html
US AIRWAYS SHOULD HAVE KEPT THEIR PRESENCE AT PIT:
http://www.pitairport.com/AboutUsServlet?o...mediainfo_press
