Gate Agent Terminal F PHL--Is This the Future?

[Art at ISP]

I know PHL has had its problems of late--I have been subject to quite a few-like a 6 and a half hour delay on the taxiway, another 2 and a half hour delay followed by a cancelled flight etc. etc. etc. In each of these cases, great crews/chairmans desk folks made the problems bearable and found easy, quick solutions. And you folks know how I feel about you!

However, you also probably know that I am all to well familiar as well with the ineptitude and lack of direction of SOME gate agents in Terminal F at PHL. On Friday I had an experience which illustrates this all to well.

I arrived from MIA on my way to ISP, and had time to spend in the club before going to the gate. I noticed that my 3:55 departure was posted as 4:15. When the club concierge checked it out, she showed a departure time of 4:30, and was able to explain that maintenance was the reason. So I had another cocktail and moseyed quietly over to the F terminal around 4PM.

Upon arrival at the new gate, I discovered no airplane. The departure time was listed at 4:30, and it was now about 4:15. I waited on a brief line and politely inquired what was going on. The gate agent said that the airplane making up this flight was in the hangar for maintenance and would be pulled out shortly. Being all to familiar with situations like this I asked him if the flight was eventually cancelled, would we be protected on the next flight which was scheduled out at 5:45. He looked at me and said, Whatchoo mean by that?
He honestly didn''t know what I was talking about. I just told him to never mind and thanked him and walked away, dumbfounded.

A few minutes later, he was walking to another gate, and I politely explained to him what protecting a reservation means. He explained back that they only do that on a first come first served basis-and that there were too many people on this flight to rebook (there were 3 more scheduled flights that day). He was polite in his ignorance though, and thanked me for explaining things to him.

When I asked him what was going on with the airplane, he told me it was coming in from Harrisburg. Now I asked about the conflicting information I had been given--was it in the hangar or was it in Harrisburg. He said it was in the hangar, but it went to Harrisburg and was coming back to operate the flight--sounded like he made it up on the fly. He honestly didn''t have a clue. I can''t necessarily blame him as he probably did NOT have any information.

At 5PM, I found the FA scheduled to work our flight. He told me what REALLY happened--the inbound aircraft scheduled to operate our flight''s AC failed, and it was over 100 degrees in the cabin. The decision was made, within minutes of original departure, to ferry the aircraft to HAR and bring back a replacement. This at least made sense. However, WHY are there no spares in PHL???? Shouldn''t there be at least one spare for ALG in a HUB?

The F/A came out of the airplane shaking his head after performing his preflight and said we were no go because a cabin flashlight was missing--and this was a NO GO condition. I jokingly offered to buy a flashlight so I could get home--he laughed and got a supervisor. He eventually found one and we departed--almost at the time of the next flight.

Had I not experienced the conversation with the gate agent I would have found it hard to believe, but believe me friends, it happened. Is this what we have to look forward to at stations which might be expressed???

I know terminal F is unique, but this doesn''t bode well......

My regards and thanks to all of you who work so hard and earn my loyalty EVERY DAY!
I''m with you--keep it up.

 

[wings396]

Art, the A/C problems on the Dash occur on a regular basis. They have been an ongoing problem for years, but ALG doesn't want to spend the money to correct the problem. As far as the lack of information given to you in PHL, the old saying applies...You get what you pay for. Sad to say, but this is the wave of the future with many of the Mainline stations go to Express. They did tell you 1/2 the truth...the A/C was in the hanger, but not in PHL...

 

[ual06]

Excuse me folks; but, lately it seems I have been seeing a number of remarks, mostly from airline passengers, about the non availability of spare aircraft. I am curious how many of those that complain about no spare aircraft have a spare car parked in their garage? Folks, a spare car is a lot cheaper than a spare bird. If passengers really want a spare bird, they can have it. It's all in the fares.

 

[Art at ISP]

UAL, you miss the point. I am not debating the issue of spare aircraft-that has been airline practice for years-some are more successful than others. Things happen, and when they do, especially at a hub, it is cost effective in some cases to substitute an aircraft.

The issue here is misinformation, or lack of information and lack of knowledge of a gate agent. It was clear that he was ill informed and perhaps not completely trained. When he couldn't answer a question, it appeared he made something up. This is just not the way to handle it-and it has happened before.

I am not bringing to light anything we here don't already know-I am just commenting on the state of things, and how there is limited potential to improve until management takes a look at what they're doing-they will definitely reap what they sow.

Most of you know me--I am patient and forgiving, and always fair. But how long does management think we're going to tolerate missed meetings, fouled up schedules, etc.?? In the past 2 weeks, I have arrived for a major meeting with less than 3 hours sleep, missed one connection entirely, missed arriving at a trade show in time to set up and missed an important conference call. When I can't rely on U to get me there, what am I supposed to do?

With the exception of this incident, I must stress that the failures are the fault of the system and the company, NOT the people--but after a while the cause stops mattering.

For what its worth, I have a 2 page letter going to Dave via email--I can't wait to see IF he responds.

 

[airbrush]

Art,

Just for some background, I was the dispatch supervisor on Friday afternoon. I arrived at work at 1:45 and walked right into a discussion with the morning supervisor and Maintenance Control about ferrying a/c 808 to MDT because of the AC problem. I had to jump into the situation before I even sat down in my chair. I had to scramble to find a crew with a couple of hours off to do the ferry to MDT, where we would replace the broken aircraft with a spare that was sitting at the MDT hangar waiting for a part to fix a minor problem. The only crew with enough time was the crew scheduled to fly Flt 3621 PHL-ISP at 3:55. (We only have one spare aircraft these days for the whole system, with one aircraft in BNA for C-check on a rotating basis, and the odds of needing it in PHL, LGA, MDT, PIT or anywhere else are about even).
We just BARELY snagged the pilots at their arrival gate before they split for their scheduled break (had to page the terminal for the F/O), then they had to preflight the ferry aircraft and wait for a pushback crew before they ferried to MDT. They left PHL at about 2:30.
Upon arrival in MDT, the replacement A/C 818 was fixed at about 3:50, then departed at about 4:15 to make up Flt 3621, rejoining the F/A who had been left in PHL. The reason for the creeping delay was the little issues that always seem to plague complicated endeavors: a balky printer when trying to print weather information; a longer than expected time to get a fueler even though you called almost an hour before; the fix taking about 10 minutes longer than originaly thought: a crewmember who might be momentarily missing just when the plane is ready to go, etc. I tried to keep the PHL ops tower (my normal point of contact) informed, but their phones were often busy and I'm sure they had multiple issues to cope with, as well as trying to get ahold of those at the gate to pass along the latest info. I was also dealing with thunderstorms and crew problems in other parts of our operation, so my focus could easily shift for 15-20 minutes to an unrelated problem and the flifos might not be updated in a timely manner, for which I apologize.
None of this is meant to diminish the inconvenience you had to endure, nor does it deal with the specific issues with the agent in question. I just thought you would like to know what really happened. I know from the history of your posts that you are a loyal customer, and hopefully we can do better by you next time.
Of course, we are scheduled to lose six aircraft by year's end, a few more in 2004, and Dave S. was quoted in Aviation Week that the Dashes will be gone in 2-3 years. So far Bruce Ashby says their are no plans to put jets on our property, so keeping up morale and retaining our best personnel will be an ongoing challenge. Lots of people think they see what is between the lines, and they are starting to act accordingly.

 

[jcrb]

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On 8/10/2003 129 PM ual06 wrote:

Excuse me folks; but, lately it seems I have been seeing a number of remarks, mostly from airline passengers, about the non availability of spare aircraft. I am curious how many of those that complain about no spare aircraft have a spare car parked in their garage?
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If the pax name is Avis, or Hertz, I would expect that they would have a few 'spare' cars in their garage, particularly given how much it annoys their 'guests' when they come to 'visit' and they dont have one.

Also if my car needed to be taken in for service as often as your planes they I would own a spare SOMETHING, maybe a realy cheap car, maybe a bike, who knows, but if it happend often I would plan around it.

 

[wings396]

There are spare A/C to cover unexpected problems. The "Spares" are usually kept at a MTC base, which may or may not happen to be a Hub. In this case it was not. ALG has their MTC in MDT where this A/C was brought in from. It has been common practice to ferry a broken A/C to MDT and bring another A/C back for the flight. I think that Art's biggest problem with this case, was the lack of correct info that he was given.

 

[Art at ISP]

Wings, you are correct. My major issue is with the performance of the agent, and the lack of credible information I received.

Airbrush, I thank you sincerely for setting the record straight. I had surmised that your scenario was the actual one, but having been told originally that the aircraft was in a hangar AT PHL, you can understand my frustration.

Delays are a fact of life, and I am the first to understand that. I also understand and respect the plight of you fine folks at the W/O's such as ALG and PDT. My hat is off to you, Airbrush and all your colleagues, and I sincerely appreciate the job you do with the few tools you are given.

I would also like to add that I had a very nice conversation with the Flight Attendant you mentioned who was left in PHL--he is a nice kid and completely on the ball. He did a great job on the flight once it finally left.

Please feel free to P/M me any time if you need a passenger's eye view of the operation or any other issues. I already do so with a friend in mainline dispatch, and am happy to help for what its worth.

Thanks again for the time you took to explain things to me--it is GREATLY appreciated.

Best regards and good luck to you all.

 

[taylor01]

 

[OldGuyinPA]

Art ....

You have seen Dave's and Al's vision for the company. Better get use to it.

 

[TomBascom]

Great explanation airbrush! That's the kind of detailed information that helps us customers know what's going on and which builds a level of trust when things go wrong. Keep it up!

 

[Art at ISP]

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On 8/10/2003 737 PM OldGuyinPA wrote:

Art ....

You have seen Dave's and Al's vision for the company. Better get use to it.


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Old Guy,

That's exactly my point. We DON'T have to get used to it. If this is the way they want to operate an airline, they can't hope to keep us business travelers.
US Airways should pride itself on the job done by 99.99 percent of the front line-you're far and above the best. The situation at Terminal F in PHL is an aberration, but it has always been that way there--you truly do get what you pay for.
I urge the management at Fort Fumble to spend time in the field--and talk to us-the passengers who fly EVERY week. Let's turn this around before there's nothing to turn around.
Again, Airbrush, thanks for your explanation. It makes perfect sense and if it had been reported like that in the first place, it would have made it easier to accept.
One point though--although you acknowledge that you keep spares in MDT, there is a hangar in PHL-would it not make sense to keep one spare or so at your busiest hub to eliminate the need to ferry a flight? Oh-excuse me--THAT MAKES SENSE! This management would never do something that makes sense.
Let's see what the next week or so brings.

 

[wings396]

The hanger in PHL is a Mainline US facilty, with none of ALG's work done there. As of now MDT and BGM are where ALG's hangers are. BGM will be closing soon, leaving MDT to handle all of the work.

 

[diogenes]

Art,

Thank you for sticking by U and sticking up for the troops. Here's the problem as I see it.

The powers that be have seen us keep this airline at the operational and service forefront thru some of the most stessful and horrendous times imaginable. Many of my people, whom I have known for decades to be unflappable, are undergoing treatment and medication. These folks are not employing a work dodge - they are dealing the best way they know how with an unending stream of bad news.

Management takes those numbers for granted, and assumes them going forward. I am not so sanguine. My station has a bunch of old pros, that can handle ANY and EVERY situation. We are stressed out, demoralized and give less of a damn with each passing day. If the strain is showing here, it must really be bad on the system. Moreover, management is so hellbent on cutting costs (did you realize the U fleet and customer services contracts were LESS lucrative than WN's,PRE-concessions?)by outsourcing (this is what 'expressing' a station amounts to) many current employees are dropping out, and being replaced by new-hires. I was a fairly sharp new-hire in my day, and I can assure you, to handle all situations with knowledgeable professionalism takes a few years.

What we all want is for somebody believable to say, "we have cut all we intend to, this is the plan going forward, and we will execute it or die trying." Not rocket science; just leadership.

 

[Art at ISP]

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On 8/11/2003 418 PM wings396 wrote:

The hanger in PHL is a Mainline US facilty, with none of ALG's work done there. As of now MDT and BGM are where ALG's hangers are. BGM will be closing soon, leaving MDT to handle all of the work.

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Wings,
There's a small hangar right off of terminal F in which there is usually a Dash 8, jungle jet or CRJ. There is also apron space. Logic would dictate you could park an extra airplane there instead of MDT-but then again, just because it's logical......
Thanks for your information.