You would think they could spend a little money here. We are not exactly crisscrossing the globe with a huge armada of widebodies.
We have TEN 767s. NINE A330s. A handful of ETOPS 757s.
How many international flights a day do we have? At our peak, maybe 23 departures?
They can't spend a little money on this small part of the operation with huge revenue potential? To at least put it on par with even the worst of the other five carriers? Why do we always have to be so embarrassing? Just hire someone who knows something about international service instead of letting Kevin "Put on a jacket and it's business" Jackson let loose with jinky meal carts full of Texas Toast. What did they do, walk over to the Twin Palms IHOP and come back feeling worldly?
Wolf knew that US Airways didn't have much game in the international market. They had, and still have, the least service of any of the majors, with a dodgy gateway airport at best. What they did have was the largest presence on the east coast, where two thirds of transatlantic passengers originate. He revamped the brand as a sharp business carrier, a global minded short haul airline for frequent business travelers in the busy east coast cities. He was smart to order a new widebody fleet, with three cabins that each were ahead of the competition, and work out plans for a state of the art international terminal. US needed a leg up if they were to be taken seriously in a worldwide sense.
The skort crowd will come on with the lame assertion that lay flat seats and Dom Perignon on twenty planes drove the carrier to bankrupcy. US's near death was the result of the famous "There is no Plan B" after the unconsumated United Airlines merger. Years and resources had been spent molding US into the missing piece of UAL's pie. No backup plan, combined with 9/11 and the war put US on the death bed. Not complimentary wine, or closets, or legroom, or F/As presenting a meal rather than schlepping it off a cart. If you believe that you are a moron.
Tempe's idea is, let's turn a business airline with a business route structure into a cheapo leisure airline like our Phoenix and Las Vegas airline- what's the difference! The international routes seem like an afterthought in their mind. This is especially disturbing considering they are the highest source of revenue, where all of the other majors are focusing, the only part not exposed to true LCC competition, and are key to any consolidation that may be considered. Not to mention they have the benefit of operating in Open Skies, with opportunities that were unavailable before. You would think this is what they'd be focusing on.
But no, Texas Toast and seats that were state of the art when Kurt Cobain was alive, all priced in line with US and foreign competition.
But what do I know, I'm just a flight attendant who actually WORKS these flights and knows these customers better than anyone sitting in Arizona.
Wait, you know who agrees with me? The customers here and overseas who have given us the title of Worst Airline.
You know who else agrees? The other majors, who you want and need to merge with so desperatly. Yeah, the new US Airways is a real winner.
