- Nov 12, 2007
- 315
- 20
I just got this email fwd to me about the last Focus Group Meeting in PHX... Humm. Make sure you read the last Paragraph
Here's an update from the Focus Group session I attended today ...
My overall impression is that after months and months of talking, we are going to see some changes real soon.
Catering is the biggest area in which we will see changes. Management heard loud and clear that the beverage cart design that we are working with is not working for us on the East. So the catering team devised two new carts for us to look at. Both had good points. One cart having the ice inside like the original East Airbus carts. The other having it on top. We should know the results soon. A neat new tool will be similar to the old Piedmont condiment tray. This can be attached to any drawer.....on the end or on the edge of the cart topper....or it can be attached to the end of the ice drawer if it ends up going back inside the cart. It will hold swizzle sticks, creamers, tea bags, sugar, etc. Very cool. Very nice. Also on the catering side, they redesigned the coffee/napkin tray so that the napkins are on one side and the coffee on the other....split down the middle so you will not have to reach behind the napkins to get a new coffee bag. Small change but it makes a BIG difference. It's amazing that we never thought of that before! And the days of a gazillion bags of sugar, sticks and sweetener will soon be over. They will be loaded in zip-lock bags in reasonable quantities.
On the communications end we are also going to see some changes. Individual base newsletters will end effective this month and the flight attendants' newsletter "US" will be expanded to include all base info. In addition, we will see the most asked FAQ's each month from AskInflight along with the proposed solutions and action that is being taken to get fixes. We will also get a monthly report from the info the product specialists (Dorothy and Terry and others like them) are collecting. Again, this will be followed with the corrective action that the company is taking to come up with fixes for those problems.
The Compliance group reported that onboard checks will be made in five categories. I hope I get this right. With the exception of the traditional check ride as we know it, none will have any "punitive" consequences. There will be management ride-alongs, observation rides much like we know them today and the new Onboard Coach thing that everybody is still interviewing for. The gate checks have been eliminated because of the impression that the supervisor could get in the way during our busiest times. They think the sups can do more good meeting and greeting in the crewrooms or just being available in their offices.
On the subject of compliance, the new uniform standards will get real strict again. I think we saw that once before. Anyway, the emphasis will really be more on rewarding the majority of the flight attendants who show up wearing the uniform correctly. Those who do not will get a "coaching" lesson and if the problem can be corrected right away, they can remain on their trip. Otherwise, they will be removed. This will go into play one month after the new uniform becomes the standard.
Ed Bular, Director of Flight and Inflight, spoke to us a bit. In our session he confirmed the rumor that we are looking to acquire the leases of two A330-200s currently operated by Swiss. Although he said these planes are not necessarily "growth" airplanes and that one would be could be used as a "spare," he did not say that they would be replacing any in the current fleet.
This morning's announcement that we pulled the China card as a political ploy against PHL brought lots of questions. Since the airport commission approved letting other domestic carriers operate out of A-East, we said we would pull our China business. I asked if we pulled the China bid because we just are not ready to serve that market and are just using this as an opportunity to delay the service. I asked why not drop Dublin or Shannon or Lisbon on a 757 and fly to China if it's supposed to be so great. Real interesting response ... he said that EVERY European flight is extremely profitable during the summer months even though every one loses money in the winter ... including LGW. BUT, China is expected to lose money for the first five years. He said we want to get in there in anticipation of a booming market during this decade. Like I said, interesting comments on that one. Not sure just how to read it all. In the afternoon session, there was NO MENTION of additional European flying out of CLT but I understand he confirmed that in the morning session.
Oh yeah, one last thing I thought was kinda cool. There is a F/A from the West who is currently on assignment to monitor LSG all over the domestic system. He goes to the kitchens to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. And goes to "hot spots" when enough messages are generated. There's a full time staff member in charge of European catering who is in London right now trying to find out just why that station can't seem to get their catering right. This is like the second or third time in as many months that Steve Kingsley has sent somebody over there. Maybe all of these visits will get LGW in line with the rest of Europe.
Next meeting of the focus groups will be in February. Until that time they will monitor the progress of the changes and then will attack a new set of problems. I tell ya what, Sherri Shamblin is really on top of things. I wish you could all see her conduct these meetings. It's impressive and it shows that she really knows what is going on and is a HUGE advocate for change.
Here's an update from the Focus Group session I attended today ...
My overall impression is that after months and months of talking, we are going to see some changes real soon.
Catering is the biggest area in which we will see changes. Management heard loud and clear that the beverage cart design that we are working with is not working for us on the East. So the catering team devised two new carts for us to look at. Both had good points. One cart having the ice inside like the original East Airbus carts. The other having it on top. We should know the results soon. A neat new tool will be similar to the old Piedmont condiment tray. This can be attached to any drawer.....on the end or on the edge of the cart topper....or it can be attached to the end of the ice drawer if it ends up going back inside the cart. It will hold swizzle sticks, creamers, tea bags, sugar, etc. Very cool. Very nice. Also on the catering side, they redesigned the coffee/napkin tray so that the napkins are on one side and the coffee on the other....split down the middle so you will not have to reach behind the napkins to get a new coffee bag. Small change but it makes a BIG difference. It's amazing that we never thought of that before! And the days of a gazillion bags of sugar, sticks and sweetener will soon be over. They will be loaded in zip-lock bags in reasonable quantities.
On the communications end we are also going to see some changes. Individual base newsletters will end effective this month and the flight attendants' newsletter "US" will be expanded to include all base info. In addition, we will see the most asked FAQ's each month from AskInflight along with the proposed solutions and action that is being taken to get fixes. We will also get a monthly report from the info the product specialists (Dorothy and Terry and others like them) are collecting. Again, this will be followed with the corrective action that the company is taking to come up with fixes for those problems.
The Compliance group reported that onboard checks will be made in five categories. I hope I get this right. With the exception of the traditional check ride as we know it, none will have any "punitive" consequences. There will be management ride-alongs, observation rides much like we know them today and the new Onboard Coach thing that everybody is still interviewing for. The gate checks have been eliminated because of the impression that the supervisor could get in the way during our busiest times. They think the sups can do more good meeting and greeting in the crewrooms or just being available in their offices.
On the subject of compliance, the new uniform standards will get real strict again. I think we saw that once before. Anyway, the emphasis will really be more on rewarding the majority of the flight attendants who show up wearing the uniform correctly. Those who do not will get a "coaching" lesson and if the problem can be corrected right away, they can remain on their trip. Otherwise, they will be removed. This will go into play one month after the new uniform becomes the standard.
Ed Bular, Director of Flight and Inflight, spoke to us a bit. In our session he confirmed the rumor that we are looking to acquire the leases of two A330-200s currently operated by Swiss. Although he said these planes are not necessarily "growth" airplanes and that one would be could be used as a "spare," he did not say that they would be replacing any in the current fleet.
This morning's announcement that we pulled the China card as a political ploy against PHL brought lots of questions. Since the airport commission approved letting other domestic carriers operate out of A-East, we said we would pull our China business. I asked if we pulled the China bid because we just are not ready to serve that market and are just using this as an opportunity to delay the service. I asked why not drop Dublin or Shannon or Lisbon on a 757 and fly to China if it's supposed to be so great. Real interesting response ... he said that EVERY European flight is extremely profitable during the summer months even though every one loses money in the winter ... including LGW. BUT, China is expected to lose money for the first five years. He said we want to get in there in anticipation of a booming market during this decade. Like I said, interesting comments on that one. Not sure just how to read it all. In the afternoon session, there was NO MENTION of additional European flying out of CLT but I understand he confirmed that in the morning session.
Oh yeah, one last thing I thought was kinda cool. There is a F/A from the West who is currently on assignment to monitor LSG all over the domestic system. He goes to the kitchens to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. And goes to "hot spots" when enough messages are generated. There's a full time staff member in charge of European catering who is in London right now trying to find out just why that station can't seem to get their catering right. This is like the second or third time in as many months that Steve Kingsley has sent somebody over there. Maybe all of these visits will get LGW in line with the rest of Europe.
Next meeting of the focus groups will be in February. Until that time they will monitor the progress of the changes and then will attack a new set of problems. I tell ya what, Sherri Shamblin is really on top of things. I wish you could all see her conduct these meetings. It's impressive and it shows that she really knows what is going on and is a HUGE advocate for change.
get help now!!!
