If you were a cosulant....

[Dont call me Shirley]

(Let's try to keep this thread at least moderately constructive, OK? )


I wonder "The Consultants" will say about US's choice of IT systems, Sabre vs. QIK Vs. Native SHARES and Sceptre vs. Merlin. Of course, if/when they report that QIK is the disaster we all know it to be, I think the best we can hope for is Native SHARES and perhaps, in the long run, Amadeus.

(Slightly snide comment follows:: Did everyone notice that the weekly "Migraine Relief" newsletter (aka Ministry of Propaganda pablum) no longer includes the "fix it" list and target dates? Of course, the last time the QIK fix list was updated was 8 June.

IT issues aside, if I were a consultant, I would question the need for having so many express carriers. (Does any other carrier have as many). For the sake of argument, let's say that outsourcing so much of US flying is a great idea. But how can having so many carriers, each with its own dispatch and crew sked. make for an efficient operation, especially during weather events?

Of course, I would also question the wisdom of lowering service standards to below that of both legacy and LCC competition along with driving away high yield business customers in favor of the "Kettle Krowd".


Anyway, those are some of the things I would present in my report to Tempe. Then, I would submit my bill!

 

[crusher]

Anthony Mule' was in DCA last week. More corporate bs and double speak. He told us Shares will be much better by years end. Right , I have some ocean front property in Nevada to sell to you too. Can anyone from PHL or CLT tell us the truth about your POC. Is it up and running and running well?. Mule' insists CO shares is just like ours but he had no idea that CO lets their agents shut off the overlays (their version of qik) and they mostly use native shares. He did not seem to comprehend that qik is the major problem. We here in DCA have yet to see one of these consultants to tell them exactly what we think has anyone really talked to any of them? This needs to be a no holds barred , hit them with all guns blazing about what is wrong with what is happening on the front line. 5 months after res migration we still a total operational mess.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Consulting for this operation would be the easiest $$$ I could ever make. I would simply get a team of interviewers to talk to FFs and take good notes. Then I would send those interviewers to talk to the front line employees of every group, ask them what their concenrs are, how they would fix them, relate the concerns of the FFS and how they would deal with those.

About a month after that, I would give Tempe a bullet point list of what had to be done, with suggestions (from the employees who are actually doing the work) on how to fix the operation.

Two months "work," and probably several million $$$ in my pocket as a consultant.

The point here is that these are effective tactics that the company could institute in-house if anyone in Tempe had the brains God gave a toad.

 

[DrBeth]

1. Return to Sabre, or at the very least, native Shares.
2. Listen to your employees and customers; form an advisory board made up of both.
3. Work with employees to resolve remaining contracts.
4. Return all telephone reservations centers to the US.
5. Discontinue the outsourcing of aircraft cleaning (Whoever is doing it is not cleaning!)
6. Provide consistent, quality service across the carrier.

 

[PHL]

US already has consultants, and the best thing is they don't cost them anything! They're called FFOCUS.

 

[DrBeth]

US already has consultants, and the best thing is they don't cost them anything! They're called FFOCUS.

And I believe they have tuned us out! :censored:

 

[longing4piedmont]

My advice is to shoot the pig and finally put it out of it's misery......or at least sell it to some one who knows how to run an airline.

 

[Art at ISP]

PHL,

You hit the nail right on the head, as did DrBeth. I have offered our insights to them time and time again--I said that all they had to do was ask and I can bring many people to the table who fly the system and know the system very well. On numerous occasions I was told of a new customer council (like the old CAB of which I was a part), and they wanted my help in setting it up. Well as far as I know, it still does not exist, or they set it up and left me out--which is quite possible.

Between FFOCUS and the front line employees, I truly believe we could provide all if not most of the information necessary to identify and fix the problems which could turn this place around. The more time passes, however, I get the sneaky suspicion that this is not their goal....

It's amazing what you can learn when you listen.....

My BEST to you all.....

PS this is being written from an airline club, not surprisingly however NOT a US club.

 

[Harry Callahan]

1. Return to Sabre, or at the very least, native Shares.
2. Listen to your employees and customers; form an advisory board made up of both.
3. Work with employees to resolve remaining contracts.
4. Return all telephone reservations centers to the US.
5. Discontinue the outsourcing of aircraft cleaning (Whoever is doing it is not cleaning!)
6. Provide consistent, quality service across the carrier.

Very very well said a BIG +1.

 

[Harry Callahan]

"PS this is being written from an airline club not US" Art I know you are having a good day wish I was going to.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

I like DrBeth's list. Besides my numerous posts about spreading the operation in the Northeast out to various stations, I'd add one extra idea:

I see United using Remote Data Collectors (RDC's) to scan baggage when it goes on an aircraft and when it comes off. They seem to know where the bags are at any time, all without the added expense of RFID tags. Combine my distribution idea with the RDC's and watch MBR numbers drop. Fewer MBR's = Fewer DOT complaints = Better consumer confidence in the product.

BTW, I consult on the cheap. For $1000/hr for a minimum of 80 hours, I will tell your company what to fix and how to fix it. Contact me if you have the dough to blow on consultants.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Mule' insists CO shares is just like ours but he had no idea that CO lets their agents shut off the overlays (their version of qik) and they mostly use native shares. He did not seem to comprehend that qik is the major problem. ........ This needs to be a no holds barred , hit them with all guns blazing about what is wrong with what is happening on the front line. 5 months after res migration we still a total operational mess.

If our version of SHARES is just like CO's, how come: CO's SHARES lists 1000s of flights that ours doesn't; CO can check a bag on four segment connections, ours can't. As for Mr Mule not knowing that CO can access the native system, I am, as the goes, "shocked, but not surprised. (I have other issues with some of his decisions but will save those for another discussion),

I like DrBeth's list. Besides my numerous posts about spreading the operation in the Northeast out to various stations, I'd add one extra idea:

I see United using Remote Data Collectors (RDC's) to scan baggage when it goes on an aircraft and when it comes off. They seem to know where the bags are at any time, all without the added expense of RFID tags. Combine my distribution idea with the RDC's and watch MBR numbers drop. Fewer MBR's = Fewer DOT complaints = Better consumer confidence in the product.

Prince, are you saying that the airline with the worst baggage numbers should scan bag tags?
UAL's scanners are pretty cool, last time we had 300 bags OHD, UA let us scan them into their system with a note saying "At US".

 

[SS255]

PHL,


Between FFOCUS and the front line employees, I truly believe we could provide all if not most of the information necessary to identify and fix the problems which could turn this place around. The more time passes, however, I get the sneaky suspicion that this is not their goal....

For an airline which is obsessed with being "cost neutral," they sure are missing the boat by giving up the best free consulting advice available. It's really quite simple: Get over your egos.
Listen to your customers. Listen to your employees. And for goodness sake, stop managing by spreadsheet!

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Prince, are you saying that the airline with the worst baggage numbers should scan bag tags?
UAL's scanners are pretty cool, last time we had 300 bags OHD, UA let us scan them into their system with a note saying "At US".

You betcha! Guess I should have charged for that one, too.

 

[Pacemaker]

I ride other airlines a lot, and the biggest difference between US (and pretty much every other airline for that matter) and Southwest is that Southwest seems to understand their product - that what they're really selling is TIME. Not a frequent flyer program, not a seat, not an aircraft type, not an airport, but time. The difference in emphasis on an ontime operation is stark. They may not always shine in the stats every month, but the effort is clearly there in just about every facet of the operation. Probably in large part because of a well paid work force that has not had to endure serial downsizing and concessions.