Hey Chill, I totally agree with you and I'm glad you brought it up. Some of it has to do with the W/B system. You know as wwell as I that the east and some of the new west leads have never done any Mapper Trims. They just go by whats in the load plan. OK, thats one probable reason.
My complaint is that some stations don't do the DRLM mask as they should for CLT and PHL. They operate on a zone system I believe and need to know what CX bags by destination are in each bin if there are overflows. I was quite perplexed to learn today that there are some Leads that don't do any DRLM entries. That includes PHX. I checked today and found that the first flights to CLT and PHL had no zone load info to pull off. Yes we all know that if the BOs' are in the FC and BE are in the AC then it's assumed. But what if there are overflow situations. How and Why should a runner have to wait for the whole flight to be offloaded if he has some hot CX to pick up. If the masked was filled out he could look for 3 RDU in AC and know he has 2 more in the FC and be on his way if he's looking for 5 bags.
Also I've found that the DRH doesn't show in PHX even if you filled out the mask ( which I do on every flt no matter where it's going ) I think because the sabre system was designed for ZONES 1-8 which PHX doesnt have.
Whats your take on all of this? I've worked Station Ops for about 15 yrs now and can imagine the frustration on the part of CLT and PHL. Not that the return bag salad is acceptable for retaliation purposes but I can see why some do it.
For Me it's a waste of my time and way to much effort to send Flts back the way we sometimes get them.
Sorry for the long .............................whatever!
Ok, now I get it. We are on the same system, but we use a different methodology. I was under the assumption that we had some kind of hybrid system going on, when in fact, there's still a west and east way. And I'm not trying to say the PHX team leads are professionals at the new system, in fact, the majority of them are dumb shnits who can barely write their name down on a piece of paper without getting a brain bubble. I ask both you guys and my guys what the problem is and you both say "well they don't understand the system.." Well that MAY be true if things are being taught differently.
Sometimes, we will get a weird loading scenario. Like this one time, the bin was loded in this order:
LOCAL mail - thru cargo - connects bags
It was a pain in the A to unload that man. There was a LOT of mail in the very back of the front 321 bin. I had to clear the heavy cargo out of the way. Is this an example of zone loading?
chill, first of all at CLT leads take the locals to the claim belts and for the most part getting them there is a non issue on occasion we may get a memo about priority bags As for 40 bags in the back of the FC of a 321 I don't believe you get them that way from CLT not unless you have pissed off the crew with the usual sh***y PHX job of zone loading .No one here is dumb enough to work harder just to screw you over.
to say that PHX always separates is frankly laughable,we hardly ever get one that is not screwed up is some fashion or another. Does the "E" key work on the company computers there? it's nothing to get an off load that says BL75 but many of those will be express bags BE if you don't know.sorry bro I like you ,you seem like a good guy but PHX has no business calling any station out on loading
Ok, thanks for the local bag insight. We are getting 3 things: PRIORITY bags first, golf clubs up last, make sure you don't throw a connecting/thru bag up, and have the bags there in 15 MINUTES!
Here's the problem, and explain how you guys do it.. When we get an East flight with local bags in both the front AND the back, first we have to wait for the conx runners to grab their stuff, and usually there are a lot of bags, so we've burned 5-10 minutes there, THEN their rig won't start, or they've shown up late to the gate, so its a good 15 minutes MINIMUM before Im even off the gate! Plus if you've got all the locals, connex, thru, and MESA bags all mixed, then we are more liable to let a connect bag slip by accidentally. ITS HUMAN NATURE. That's what I can't stress enough to my sups! There is ALWAYS a margin for error when things are done manually.
So management is finally enforcing the policies? You can try to refuse. A good manager will recognise the importance of having people where they want to be. The ramp has something for everyone, but everything isn't for anyone. Unfortunatly, unless you bid for local runner, and if so weren't junior assigned, they can schedule you for it. Every station is a bit different, but assuming PHX is scheduled similar to LAS you're screwed if the manager won't be nice.
Thank you! This was the laugh of my day. Back in the wonderful days of MAPPER, when the Leads did W&B PHX was the KING of shitty loads. I've lost count of how many poor load audits I did on inbound Phoenix flights, but it was easily over 50.
In all fairness though, I don't work flights on the ramp anymore, so PHX may have improved. If not, this is like calling the kettle black, and if you have improved I apologise. Don't want to start up blad blood for a fixed problem.
On bag load topics, I just wanna give kudos to CMH. I have NEVER seen a load that was not EXACTLY as the GOM perscribed from them. If you need to learn how to load a plane CMH is the place to go to learn, cause they're the masters.
It's not the fact that management is trying to be sticklers now that upsets me, its the manner they are doing it in. They are threatening our JOBS over this. I don't respond to threats that well, and Im sure you guys don't either. I work on positive re-enforcement and respect for my co workers. I'm well liked for my enthusiasm, and hard work. You get a greater response that way. Better team work. And to rely on you PHX runners, without taking a step back an analyzing a baggage system that has CLEARLY been CRAP for so long is not the way I would go about fixing this. The system should have a better structure. Why even put your bag handlers in that situation without first exploring a way to make these little mishaps more fool-proof? Is their answer to the baggage mishandlings to threaten the PHX runners? How about incentive programs. Extra money would CERTAINLY remind me to check that tag before it goes up the belt, instead of worrying about how I'm going to pay tutiton. That's another thing, we are paid the worst, but they expect the best out of us. Sorry if I'm not more enthusiastic about being number one!
Read my whole post, I think this is just a big misunderstanding, and SHAME on those in charge for letting this happen. US Airways training is a JOKE! I remember my ticket counter training, they taught me how to check in, 3 days of OJT and then they push you out the nest. There is... SO MUCH.. Stuff you have to learn besides that. It's disgusting.
It looks like we need to have more communication with eachother about our methodologies if the company isn't going to analyze their system as a whole, and make drastic changes where they are needed, and not at the bottom. If we know what to expect coming in, we would be better at catching those stray bags that have been mixed in, where the locals are, where the connects are. We will have our runners off the gate faster, and our bag situation will improve!
I'm sick of 10th place, I want to be number one, but our inept management and non-communication are really making this difficult.
