Management failing plan in PHL

[libertybell]

Well with everything we have seen and heard in Philly from the shortages of manpower and equipment and the band-aid fixes management has tried there plan is failing. With the heat of the summer here now in full swing the company is getting exactly what they wanted after hiring from beneath the bottom of the barrel. Management hired hundreds of workers spending countless hours in training time and money only in the end watching them quit get fired or let them stay only to let the recent hired fleet service think they can do what they want and management lets them. Since the big hiring spree a while ago the numbers have continued to shrink to well below minimums needed to work operations on the ramp. Management every day has signs up begging day work employees to stay extra hours. The weekends are even worse since the new hires all want to have weekends off so you have large amounts of workers calling off leaving the operation cut off at the knees.
Yes indeed management is screwing the pooch! They have management running around seeing the problems but they are acting at a snails pace to fix the problems. The latest word from the ramp is managment is running a program to get the scheduled fleet service agents to work on weekends.
Management is resorting to a sort of bribe to get the emeployees to do what they were hired to do! The program runs something like this, weekends are considered as not SAT and Sun but Fri thru Mon 4 days! If you come in and work your scheduled shift you get a coupon for each day you work during the company weekend. If you work OT you get a coupon for each OT shift you work. Each weekend MGT has a drawing for prizes like apple Ipods flat screen TV's or 100 gift coupons for food stores.

Why this plan will fail is simple, the day workers are all tired and beat up from working short handed as well during the day from lack of staffing and equipment. Agents are constantly on the hunt for a running tugs to run bags. Workers have been seen running bags on beltloaders in order to make connections. The whole station is "F" up senior workers are quitting and a major meltdown is coming if something isnt done soon and it will not be the workers fault. Remember folks you heard it hear first.

 

[libertybell]

Liberty Bell,
I hope you're wrong but I did stumble across an interesting article in the PHL Inquirer regarding average local wages for various types of work and the $9.59/hr that US Offers the new rampers is right in line with the survey. IIRC the avg for PHL metro was about 30 cents more for similar type work.

Also why is it PHL that always has broken tugs? We don't hear of it elsewhere? Some who have posted here speak of sabotage. You have to wonder if that's true since you don't hear about equipment failures at other hubs. At least not here.

I've also heard that many of the older staff on the ramp is very adept at "hiding" and avoiding work at all costs. Apparently one of the "Thug 22" was a master of this and would use every trick to avoid working.

We also have heard of roving gangs and such on the ramp? Rumors of the ramp being "Mobbed up".

These of course are all just rumors and we know how that can go. BUT some of these rumors pre-date 2000 the time I started flying regularly. I've visited the ramp and observed and I will tell you it's not a happy place.

Bob,
First off the major amount of tugs in Philly are old some 200 tugs on the ramp approxmently 40 are considered new the rest should be scrapped or sent in for major overhaul.
The amount is still is not enough for a major hub operation
workers should have more equipment then the bear miniums so when you have equipment that has to go in for service you dont short the ramp.

Second the rate of pay is dismal for starting wages for a hub operation if you want skilled reliable labor you need to have a good starting wage. Your getting fast food help who doesnt care about there job for the long haul so they dont give a shi# about your bag or the departure time of your flight.

Third I disagree with senior workers "hiding" Bob there arent many of them left the "flush" out by MGT has been quite effective the major amount of the problems come from the new hires 0 to 4 years.

Fouth since the 22 getting fired the mob you speak of has been not a big issue with the workers recently most consider them gone for good. And roving gangs you mentioned mabe are in southwest philly but not on the ramp.

Finally Bob I would agree Philly is not a happy place!

 

[700UW]

When I was in PHL it was a madhouse for Fleet, equipment shortages were rampant.

Fleet Service had to resort to remove wires from the ground equipment so someone would not take it to use it.

Carts were so short bags were offloaded onto the ramp.

Add any inclement weather into the picture and it magnified 1,000 times worse.

The Fleet Service Workers I encountered who were veterans were very hard workers just dealing with the shortcomings of inadequate management.

 

[Seatacus]

Didn't Doogie send some management superstar to work that station and fix all of the problems? Wasn't he some US west guy that everyone raved about?

 

[rjh]

Didn't Doogie send some management superstar to work that station and fix all of the problems? Wasn't he some US west guy that everyone raved about?

Yeah, he started just a few months ago. I think it takes time to solve problems, especially if things were as bad as we kept hearing in PHL>

 

[barbeetantrums]

Well with everything we have seen and heard in Philly from the shortages of manpower and equipment and the band-aid fixes management has tried there plan is failing. With the heat of the summer here now in full swing the company is getting exactly what they wanted after hiring from beneath the bottom of the barrel. Management hired hundreds of workers spending countless hours in training time and money only in the end watching them quit get fired or let them stay only to let the recent hired fleet service think they can do what they want and management lets them. Since the big hiring spree a while ago the numbers have continued to shrink to well below minimums needed to work operations on the ramp. Management every day has signs up begging day work employees to stay extra hours. The weekends are even worse since the new hires all want to have weekends off so you have large amounts of workers calling off leaving the operation cut off at the knees.
Yes indeed management is screwing the pooch! They have management running around seeing the problems but they are acting at a snails pace to fix the problems. The latest word from the ramp is managment is running a program to get the scheduled fleet service agents to work on weekends.
Management is resorting to a sort of bribe to get the emeployees to do what they were hired to do! The program runs something like this, weekends are considered as not SAT and Sun but Fri thru Mon 4 days! If you come in and work your scheduled shift you get a coupon for each day you work during the company weekend. If you work OT you get a coupon for each OT shift you work. Each weekend MGT has a drawing for prizes like apple Ipods flat screen TV's or 100 gift coupons for food stores.

If you replaced "Philly" with a "a certain hub", I would have thought you were talking about PHX.

The majority of the massive number of new-hires are young white males of Generation Nintendo. They sit and play with their Gameboy while everyone else works, they don't know how to read bag tags, and are disrespectful. Any comment regarding their poor work habits results in a "fudge you" or "whatever, dude". Management does nothing. They just throw them on the ramp and let the ramp employees train them. These kids have tattoos all over their bodies, piercings, moussed up mohawks, droopy drawers with 4 layers of boxer shorts, shirts hanging out... When I was younger, we would have never dreamed of going to a job interview looking like that.

I am at that point where if I could point a magic finger and make things go my way, they would only hire Mexicans and Pacific Islanders (give us more Tongans, Lord!). They are the only ones that work and stay around for a long time. Respectable and decent people.

 

[AIRMAIL]

For the weekends why not make a special 3 day shift 12 hr days and pay this shift a premium. The shift would be Fri., Sat. and Sun. and you would also be paid like you worked a 40 hr week. Hospitals and some Manufactures have this type of shift to lure workers that want to work weekends and have 4 days off. I`m sure there would be people that would love this shift. Just an idea!

 

[IMisstheAladdinTrays]

If you replaced "Philly" with a "a certain hub", I would have thought you were talking about PHX.

The majority of the massive number of new-hires are young white males of Generation Nintendo. They sit and play with their Gameboy while everyone else works, they don't know how to read bag tags, and are disrespectful. Any comment regarding their poor work habits results in a "fudge you" or "whatever, dude". Management does nothing. They just throw them on the ramp and let the ramp employees train them. These kids have tattoos all over their bodies, piercings, moussed up mohawks, droopy drawers with 4 layers of boxer shorts, shirts hanging out... When I was younger, we would have never dreamed of going to a job interview looking like that.

I am at that point where if I could point a magic finger and make things go my way, they would only hire Mexicans and Pacific Islanders (give us more Tongans, Lord!). They are the only ones that work and stay around for a long time. Respectable and decent people.

All of this is so true!

 

[ALCARLOS]

Isn't PHX close enought to the border to pull workers from Mexico? PHL pulls them from Canada. You might need to add more flights to border towns to hand the non-revs.

 

[700UW]

Illegals can't pass the background check, you know the requirement to work at an airport and get a SIDA badge.

 

[barbeetantrums]

Isn't PHX close enought to the border to pull workers from Mexico? PHL pulls them from Canada. You might need to add more flights to border towns to hand the non-revs.

Umm.... We have many legal Mexican workers here. Little secret: Many have a green card. Many were also born here and are as American as you and I. They also serve in our military and are being killed and injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

[Doc]

Didn't Doogie send some management superstar to work that station and fix all of the problems? Wasn't he some US west guy that everyone raved about?

I told him if he went to PHL it was a career killer. He laugh and said all that stuff in PHL is rumor.

Remember the days when you had to know somebody to get a JOB in this business.

They have ruined this business to line their pockets.

I see guys throw bags off the stairs of jet ways they don’t give a sh#t …

IF THEY DON’T BRING THE WAGES BACK UP SOON IT WILL BLOW UP IN THEIR FACE. PASSENGERS ARE GETTING TIRED OF AGENTS BEING RUDE, (WHICH I SEE EVERY DAY)

ALL BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAY BY PAYING YOU LESS THEY MAKE MORE MONEY.

WHAT THEY DON’T REALIZE IS THAT WHAT WE USED TO DO OUT OF LOVE FOR OUR JOBS WE NOW DO JUST FOR A PAY CHECK YOU GET NOTHING MORE OR NOTHING LESS.

 

[AP Tech]

For the weekends why not make a special 3 day shift 12 hr days and pay this shift a premium.

When they apply for the job, it states working weekends, holidays and various shifts are part of the job. I worked for almost 12 years in my department before I could touch part of the weekend. Welcome to the wonderful world of aviation 24/7 365 days a year, unless of course you once worked in Crystal City!!!! Most of those morons did not realize the airline was open on weekends 🙄

 

[Seatacus]

For the weekends why not make a special 3 day shift 12 hr days and pay this shift a premium. The shift would be Fri., Sat. and Sun. and you would also be paid like you worked a 40 hr week. Hospitals and some Manufactures have this type of shift to lure workers that want to work weekends and have 4 days off. I`m sure there would be people that would love this shift. Just an idea!

How dare you think outside the box!!!!

The majority of the massive number of new-hires are young white males of Generation Nintendo. They sit and play with their Gameboy while everyone else works, they don't know how to read bag tags, and are disrespectful. Any comment regarding their poor work habits results in a "fudge you" or "whatever, dude". Management does nothing. They just throw them on the ramp and let the ramp employees train them. These kids have tattoos all over their bodies, piercings, moussed up mohawks, droopy drawers with 4 layers of boxer shorts, shirts hanging out... When I was younger, we would have never dreamed of going to a job interview looking like that.

Does "you get what you pay for " come to mind????

 

[AIRMAIL]

When they apply for the job, it states working weekends, holidays and various shifts are part of the job. I worked for almost 12 years in my department before I could touch part of the weekend. Welcome to the wonderful world of aviation 24/7 365 days a year, unless of course you once worked in Crystal City!!!! Most of those morons did not realize the airline was open on weekends 🙄

I just think the company should add a weekend shift only. Fri-Sat-Sun with 12 hrs shifts. I bet you would get a lot of senior people bidding this shift and thus the weekend would have more veterans working and not the junior employees. Then the people working the weekend shift are the ones that truly want to be there. Personally I would love to get all my hours in in just three days and get paid for 40 and then spend Mon. thru Thur with my family. If enough people ask then maybe the company will wake up and create such a shift.