It''s not just Philadelphia...It''s all over the system

[OldGuyinPA]

We''re experiencing more airport rage ...day by day from the customers. All...I repeat all the stations are severely understaffed. CCY needs to throw out their charts and graphs for staffing on the front lines. The customers just shake their heads in disgust, and then scream why aren''t there aren''t more agents working. Some seem to be getting violent towards the agents. Violence in the work place isn''t limited to other industries.

So who''s to blame. The station managers. Maybe it''s the regionals, or could it be a VP. Maybe Dave isn''t aware just how bad it''s become. How does Dave get his information??

Oh well, with the cutbacks they will still have money for their bonuses all the way up from station manager to Dave. You can bet on that...........

 

[trvlr64]

As a customer that spends too much damn time flying, no one should ever be rude to you. I know that you have no control over any problem that arises. So tell the irrate customer to email consumer affairs or bet yet, Dave himself. I have given your management an earful over the last 2 weeks, both positive and negative emails. And I''ve recieved a reply each time.


But I do have 1 BIG request for all of the frontline people. Could you all PUHLEEZE make more announcements whenever there is a delay, mechanical or otherwise. And could you make sure that it is properly heard. It would help to aleviate any angst that the customers in the gate area have because of delays. Even those of us that fly every damn week. If you made more announcements I think this would give the appearance that something is being done. It''s an old psychological trick. Try it.

 

[Old PSA]

One of the many problems US and the other old-line carriers have is setting the customers expectations too high. I doubt if any carrier is now able to provide a first class experience comparable with service of 10 or 20 years ago. Same with coach to a lesser degreee. Let''s be candid for a moment. The current traveling environment is too many people being pushed through too small a space in too little time.

Southwest and JetBlue have targeted their niche of the total market and are able to match the level of service needed and expected by the customers. They aren''t trying to be everything to everybody. You either accept the service they offer or fly someone else. So far, the public seems to be happy with that.

If and until the business traveler, willing to pay a higher fare, return in sufficient numbers the majors and US will continue to chase a after a non-existent target. That is the mix of fares necessary to be profitable. It can be argued quite convincingly that those days are never going to return. Smaller airplanes are not going to be the answer unless the higher fare customer is one of the passengers. Their cost while lower overall is still higher on a per seat basis. If you can''t make money on 100% loads on todays equipment, you still aren''t going to tomorrow on smaller equipment.

US needs to face the reality that the business customer isn''t going to pay higher fares until he can see the value of it. Perks isn''t it, it must be value that can be seen and understood. Also, US needs to stop trying to provide all services to every passenger. US must establish that service is a function of price. You pay less, you get less.

Example in point. A customer buys a full F8 fare from Florida to New England. Other than a wider seat and perhaps a better snack, just about everything else is the same. Same self-service check-in machines, same boarding crowd, same dance at the connecting point, same chance that their bags won''t be at their destination. Heck, even stand in the same line to report their bags missing. This is not apparent higher value to me.

 

[Upsgnr]

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On 7/13/2003 750 PM Old PSA wrote:

One of the many problems US and the other old-line carriers have is setting the customers expectations too high. I doubt if any carrier is now able to provide a first class experience comparable with service of 10 or 20 years ago. Same with coach to a lesser degreee. Let''s be candid for a moment. The current traveling environment is too many people being pushed through too small a space in too little time.


Southwest and JetBlue have targeted their niche of the total market and are able to match the level of service needed and expected by the customers. They aren''t trying to be everything to everybody. You either accept the service they offer or fly someone else. So far, the public seems to be happy with that.


If and until the business traveler, willing to pay a higher fare, return in sufficient numbers the majors and US will continue to chase a after a non-existent target. That is the mix of fares necessary to be profitable. It can be argued quite convincingly that those days are never going to return. Smaller airplanes are not going to be the answer unless the higher fare customer is one of the passengers. Their cost while lower overall is still higher on a per seat basis. If you can''t make money on 100% loads on todays equipment, you still aren''t going to tomorrow on smaller equipment.


US needs to face the reality that the business customer isn''t going to pay higher fares until he can see the value of it. Perks isn''t it, it must be value that can be seen and understood. Also, US needs to stop trying to provide all services to every passenger. US must establish that service is a function of price. You pay less, you get less.


Example in point. A customer buys a full F8 fare from Florida to New England. Other than a wider seat and perhaps a better snack, just about everything else is the same. Same self-service check-in machines, same boarding crowd, same dance at the connecting point, same chance that their bags won''t be at their destination. Heck, even stand in the same line to report their bags missing. This is not apparent higher value to me.




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On a recent Saturday US flight from MYR to DCA it took me 50 minutes to get my bags. Heck, the flight was only 50 minutes, AND they posted a particular baggage track and the MYR bags came out on a different carousel!

US has to do better job than this! Otherwise customers will book elsewhere.

 

[BIGDOG]

 

[AP Tech]

Managment is just out of touch. Get them out of CCY and let them see how the airline is going down the tubes. Sadly they have no clue..............

 

[arieh]

TRUE: PHL problems aren''t unique, just glaring!
Staffing problems would improve if the company''s bean-counters weren''t involved. I understand staffing is determined by an airport''s "level" such as "A" stations, "B," "C," et cetera, with such designations being determined by the number of passengers that board at each station. Although this approach may make perfect sense to the company''s management and bean-counters, pegging staffing numbers with passengers boarded is simplistic and more importantly, it avoids the more time consuming approach of analysing each airport''s actual NEEDS! God forbid anyone should take the time to reach the company''s systemwide staffing numbers by using a more surgical approach.
When a full flight departs Pittsburgh for San Francisco, the staff needed for the flight in Pittsburgh isn''t much different from San Francisco''s; same unaccompanied minors, bags, LEO''s, etc. Plus, many stations don''t have the same supervisor ratios, no SARS, Special Service Desks, etc. All this extra work is absorbed by the smaller station''s staff.
Passengers boarded may be part of a formula for staffing requirement, but so much more ought to be considered.
Recently a VP was visiting but it was way too busy for him to actually chat with the agents. Three agents (assuming no breaks are taken), working the counter on the busiest night of the week! At the end of shift the VP comments about how crazy it seemed. Then he said, "you know, I noticed nobody was staffing the Kiosks." He believed things would have been smoother if only the Kiosks were staffed. Can these people (mgmt) possibly be more out of touch!
How can three agents staff the coach, First Class and the Kiosks with a line stretching as far as the eye can see?

 

[Hope777]

I invite any management employee to join us on the ramp in EWR between 2-3pm and just watch the fiasco that goes on durring that time. Cargo delays are the norm thanks to the bean counters formulas that just dont work. PLEASE...join us.

 

[cat 111]

They don''t have time to come out of their ivory towers. They are to busy trying to figue out how to screw the employees some more.

 

[Seatacus]

Give it up everybody...We are turning into a no service airline. Warehouse prices and self service. No longer are we a service industry but a product industry. We sell space on the plane, help yourself to a boarding pass from a machine. As soon as this company can get TSA to check bags airline agents are outta here

 

[Non Rever]

I really think no one cares how bad it is. Otherwise someone would try to fix it. The same old problems reoccur every day. No one is accountable.

I see the beat down employees everyday. Morale is at an all time low. Most people think there is no future at U. Unfortunately that may be the case. So sad.

 

[PITbull]

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On 7/14/2003 9:12:30 AM Hope777 wrote:

I invite any management employee to join us on the ramp in EWR between 2-3pm and just watch the fiasco that goes on durring that time. Cargo delays are the norm thanks to the bean counters formulas that just dont work. PLEASE...join us.

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Have you lost it man....and what? Leave the golf course???

 

[crushed]

This is straight from CCY performance and planning....... "United is number 1 in on time performance, baggage, etc., etc. and they are losing 20 million a day, I don''t care if we are number 7 or number 27 as long as we make money"

 

[MarkMyWords]

I honestly think that Dave has less to do with staffing models then I do. He is the CEO and I am sure that he relies more on Al, Jerry or some other VP to work through the staffing issues. I would prefer to see Al and company come to the airport UNANNOUNCED and see what really is going on.

 

[Hope777]

Pitbull, this would work for Dave if he was willing to get an early tee time. After his round, he could fly up on Continental (non-stop) have a limo pick him up at Terminal C and drop him off at Terminal A and wait outside the ticket counter. Watch the fiasco for an hour or so, hop back into the limo for the short ride down Rt. 1 & 9 to his parents house, have something to eat with them and then back to the airport for the 8pm DCA flight on CO. This should have him back home by say 10pm and he could just get a late tee-time the next morning. It could work if he was will to sacrifice a little.