I sent doug a email consdiring all the news of US INT ops having so many problems, im only 18, and he NEVER replied to any of my emails until now.
here it is.
Hello. Each of you on this e-mail distribution list recently sent me an
e-mail in regard to a story that appeared in a blog on USAToday.com. My
response is below. I apologize for the mass e-mail versus more
personalized ones, but given there were 20 such notes, this was much
more efficient for me. Thanks for your understanding and thanks for
taking the time to let me know about your concerns.
dp
Dear US Airways Employee,
Several of you have sent me copies of a column that ran earlier this
week in Joe Brancatelli's blog at USAToday.com. Mr. Brancatelli focuses
on this past summer's international operation from Philadelphia and our
poor on-time performance. The on-time statistics cited by Mr.
Brancatelli's statistics are accurate, publicly available information
and indeed are no surprise to US Airways' employees -- we know we've had
a very difficult summer for PHL international operations and we've
spoken candidly about the causes and the planned fixes for next year.
He makes a number of incorrect conclusions from the data and I'll
address those below, but the biggest misrepresentation he makes is that
management does not care about the situation. That is both offensive and
false so I wanted to take some time to let you know the facts.
First, let me be crystal clear -- we have not run a good international
operation this summer and we are not pleased about it. When it comes to
on-time arrival statistics, though, Mr Brancatelli fails to mention
the biggest contributor of all, which is the well-publicized severe ATC
delays that affected all of the Northeast this summer. When the
domestic operation is delayed, as it was at record levels this summer,
airlines rightfully delay their international flights even more, as we
wait for connecting travelers to arrive in the hub. Not doing so would
inconvenience these passengers tremendously as the next international
flight doesn't leave for another day (and likely has no seats available
as we were all extremely full this summer). These ATC delays and
subsequent holding of international trips led to poor on-time
performance for all
international operations in the Northeast. For example, publicly
available information that was not mentioned in the blog includes this
sampling of on-time results for our Northeast international competitors
for June through August:
- Delta from JFK to: Moscow, 21% on-time; Budapest, 41%;
Manchester, 43%; Rome, 50%.
- Continental from EWR to: Manchester, 42%; Dublin 47%
To be clear, our international on-time performance was even worse than
our
competitors for some of the reasons I discuss below, but to publish our
numbers in isolation without providing the context of others in similar
ATC environments is misleading at best. It is also important to note
that
while our on-time performance suffered, our people did an excellent job
of
ensuring that these important flights did operate -- our international
completion factor for this period was 99%, despite the difficult ATC
environment.
Having said all of this, the fact remains that there were issues
other than ATC problems that had a negative effect on our international
operation this summer. It's important that we all understand what led to
these issues and what we're doing to avoid a repeat in the Summer of
'08:
1) Scheduling: We had an aggressive growth schedule in Philadelphia
this summer because we committed to growing the international
operation, and we needed to live up to a commitment to the City of
Philadelphia to do so. Last summer, and again this year, the City has
threatened to take three widebody international gates that we currently
use and convert them into domestic gates for Delta.
To demonstrate our commitment to the international operation, we
scheduled more flying than we normally would have on the available
gates, building a schedule that required us to do what's called
"nesting" of 19 international flights on 16 gates. Nesting
allows us to operate two international departures from a
single gate by towing the first plane to arrive on the gate to a remote
pad after it is deplaned, having a second plane arrive and depart on
that gate, and then bringing the first plane back to the gate to get
loaded for its departure. This is a common practice at many airports
and it works on good days. But when things get behind, which they did
all summer because of ATC and weather, it doesn't work so well, as we
all experienced.
The good news is that this initiative has had some positive impact
within the City. While it is still unclear as to whether or not we will
lose some gates on the international concourse, what is clear is that
the City enjoys the service and would not like to lose it. We have
told them that we will not subject our customers and employees to such a
nested operation next year, though, so if they choose to move a domestic
airline onto the international concourse we will have no choice but to
eliminate some of our international flying. We are still working with
them on a potential resolution to this dilemma, but the very strong
consumer response to our new flights has certainly helped our cause.
2) Maintenance: We did have higher aircraft out-of-service time for
our international fleet this year than we've experienced in the past as
well. The aircraft now need more routine maintenance than they did in
past
summers and we simply hadn't adjusted the schedule to provide enough
time,
so we ended up with more delays. We will remedy this next summer by
either not
flying as many international routes (if PHL takes some international
gates)
or using different equipment to fly some routes like PHL-SJU and CLT-CUN
which were flown this summer with international aircraft.
We also continue to have problems storing sufficient parts in PHL. Mr.
Brancatelli's column incorrectly suggests that we store international
parts in Phoenix that should be stored in PHL. That is not true --
there are no widebody-only parts stored in Phoenix. We do, however, have
inadequate parts storage facilities in PHL, which leads us to place more
parts than we'd like in Charlotte. We're working with the Philadelphia
Airport to obtain more space and that, in addition to getting the entire
maintenance inventory onto one computer system, will improve our delays
attributable to maintenance dramatically.
3) Interiors/Onboard Offering: The financial distress of the former US
Airways left the interiors of the international fleet, particularly the
767s, in worse condition than any of us would like. In May, we approved
a $20 million program to upgrade our widebody interiors. Unfortunately,
it takes more than a year to receive and install the parts and new
seats, which means that we won't see these interior improvements until
next year.
As we upgrade the airplanes, we're also bringing consistency and
upgrades to the onboard product. Our new program rolls out in January
and includes new and upgraded Envoy Class meals, wines and amenities.
Later next year, we'll begin installing new near-lie-flat seats and
handheld InFlight Entertainment units in Envoy, along with new InFlight
Entertainment computer servers and flat monitors in Economy on the B767
fleet. Also next year, we'll be moving to common galley configuration
for increased stowage and oven space on the transatlantic B757 ETOPs
aircraft.
So those are the primary problems and what we're doing to address them.
Rest assured that we care very much about these issues and will ensure
that
they are addressed. Our international routes have been extremely
successful
this summer despite our operational challenges and we have exciting
plans
for future expansion. We know full well, though, that we can not expect
to
remain profitable in the international markets if we operate as we did
this
summer, nor can we expect profitable expansion.
I am confident that we'll get there because I know how badly each of
wants
to see it happen. Thanks for all you're doing to take care of our
customers.
Doug
here it is.
Hello. Each of you on this e-mail distribution list recently sent me an
e-mail in regard to a story that appeared in a blog on USAToday.com. My
response is below. I apologize for the mass e-mail versus more
personalized ones, but given there were 20 such notes, this was much
more efficient for me. Thanks for your understanding and thanks for
taking the time to let me know about your concerns.
dp
Dear US Airways Employee,
Several of you have sent me copies of a column that ran earlier this
week in Joe Brancatelli's blog at USAToday.com. Mr. Brancatelli focuses
on this past summer's international operation from Philadelphia and our
poor on-time performance. The on-time statistics cited by Mr.
Brancatelli's statistics are accurate, publicly available information
and indeed are no surprise to US Airways' employees -- we know we've had
a very difficult summer for PHL international operations and we've
spoken candidly about the causes and the planned fixes for next year.
He makes a number of incorrect conclusions from the data and I'll
address those below, but the biggest misrepresentation he makes is that
management does not care about the situation. That is both offensive and
false so I wanted to take some time to let you know the facts.
First, let me be crystal clear -- we have not run a good international
operation this summer and we are not pleased about it. When it comes to
on-time arrival statistics, though, Mr Brancatelli fails to mention
the biggest contributor of all, which is the well-publicized severe ATC
delays that affected all of the Northeast this summer. When the
domestic operation is delayed, as it was at record levels this summer,
airlines rightfully delay their international flights even more, as we
wait for connecting travelers to arrive in the hub. Not doing so would
inconvenience these passengers tremendously as the next international
flight doesn't leave for another day (and likely has no seats available
as we were all extremely full this summer). These ATC delays and
subsequent holding of international trips led to poor on-time
performance for all
international operations in the Northeast. For example, publicly
available information that was not mentioned in the blog includes this
sampling of on-time results for our Northeast international competitors
for June through August:
- Delta from JFK to: Moscow, 21% on-time; Budapest, 41%;
Manchester, 43%; Rome, 50%.
- Continental from EWR to: Manchester, 42%; Dublin 47%
To be clear, our international on-time performance was even worse than
our
competitors for some of the reasons I discuss below, but to publish our
numbers in isolation without providing the context of others in similar
ATC environments is misleading at best. It is also important to note
that
while our on-time performance suffered, our people did an excellent job
of
ensuring that these important flights did operate -- our international
completion factor for this period was 99%, despite the difficult ATC
environment.
Having said all of this, the fact remains that there were issues
other than ATC problems that had a negative effect on our international
operation this summer. It's important that we all understand what led to
these issues and what we're doing to avoid a repeat in the Summer of
'08:
1) Scheduling: We had an aggressive growth schedule in Philadelphia
this summer because we committed to growing the international
operation, and we needed to live up to a commitment to the City of
Philadelphia to do so. Last summer, and again this year, the City has
threatened to take three widebody international gates that we currently
use and convert them into domestic gates for Delta.
To demonstrate our commitment to the international operation, we
scheduled more flying than we normally would have on the available
gates, building a schedule that required us to do what's called
"nesting" of 19 international flights on 16 gates. Nesting
allows us to operate two international departures from a
single gate by towing the first plane to arrive on the gate to a remote
pad after it is deplaned, having a second plane arrive and depart on
that gate, and then bringing the first plane back to the gate to get
loaded for its departure. This is a common practice at many airports
and it works on good days. But when things get behind, which they did
all summer because of ATC and weather, it doesn't work so well, as we
all experienced.
The good news is that this initiative has had some positive impact
within the City. While it is still unclear as to whether or not we will
lose some gates on the international concourse, what is clear is that
the City enjoys the service and would not like to lose it. We have
told them that we will not subject our customers and employees to such a
nested operation next year, though, so if they choose to move a domestic
airline onto the international concourse we will have no choice but to
eliminate some of our international flying. We are still working with
them on a potential resolution to this dilemma, but the very strong
consumer response to our new flights has certainly helped our cause.
2) Maintenance: We did have higher aircraft out-of-service time for
our international fleet this year than we've experienced in the past as
well. The aircraft now need more routine maintenance than they did in
past
summers and we simply hadn't adjusted the schedule to provide enough
time,
so we ended up with more delays. We will remedy this next summer by
either not
flying as many international routes (if PHL takes some international
gates)
or using different equipment to fly some routes like PHL-SJU and CLT-CUN
which were flown this summer with international aircraft.
We also continue to have problems storing sufficient parts in PHL. Mr.
Brancatelli's column incorrectly suggests that we store international
parts in Phoenix that should be stored in PHL. That is not true --
there are no widebody-only parts stored in Phoenix. We do, however, have
inadequate parts storage facilities in PHL, which leads us to place more
parts than we'd like in Charlotte. We're working with the Philadelphia
Airport to obtain more space and that, in addition to getting the entire
maintenance inventory onto one computer system, will improve our delays
attributable to maintenance dramatically.
3) Interiors/Onboard Offering: The financial distress of the former US
Airways left the interiors of the international fleet, particularly the
767s, in worse condition than any of us would like. In May, we approved
a $20 million program to upgrade our widebody interiors. Unfortunately,
it takes more than a year to receive and install the parts and new
seats, which means that we won't see these interior improvements until
next year.
As we upgrade the airplanes, we're also bringing consistency and
upgrades to the onboard product. Our new program rolls out in January
and includes new and upgraded Envoy Class meals, wines and amenities.
Later next year, we'll begin installing new near-lie-flat seats and
handheld InFlight Entertainment units in Envoy, along with new InFlight
Entertainment computer servers and flat monitors in Economy on the B767
fleet. Also next year, we'll be moving to common galley configuration
for increased stowage and oven space on the transatlantic B757 ETOPs
aircraft.
So those are the primary problems and what we're doing to address them.
Rest assured that we care very much about these issues and will ensure
that
they are addressed. Our international routes have been extremely
successful
this summer despite our operational challenges and we have exciting
plans
for future expansion. We know full well, though, that we can not expect
to
remain profitable in the international markets if we operate as we did
this
summer, nor can we expect profitable expansion.
I am confident that we'll get there because I know how badly each of
wants
to see it happen. Thanks for all you're doing to take care of our
customers.
Doug
