Memo to US Haters

[PHLFlyer]

This is for any new or old US haters out there who feel the need to constantly use this forum for your petty tirades.

First of all, there is nothing so awful that our airline has done to you that another airline hasn't done to somebody and some point. Chances are whatever we did that was so terrible has happened before and will happen again, nomatter how hard we try or who is charge. It's the nature of our business.

Second, get some perspective. Are missed connections, lost luggage, $2 beverages or a rude employee really that major when it comes to the grand scheme of our universe and what happens in the world around us?

Bad airline service? Good grief! What in the world will happen next -- a government official is found to be corrupt? Our taxes go up? An American-made car breaks down?

Face it folks, some things in life are inevitable. Accept it and move on.

 

[JS]

I agree that US is not the only airline with sucky service. I've sworn off UA forever for one too many kicks in the pants.

CO and NW have also screwed me over once each, which is pretty bad considering that I've flown CO only three times and NW four or five times. Oddly enough, AA and DL have never screwed me over even though I've flown them more than US or UA.

When I say "screw over", I mean more than just flight delays or cancellations. I'm referring to the attitude of "you missed your flight and because it was ATC/weather/blah blah blah it must be your fault and you'll get no refund" which UA has perfected and CO and NW did to me once.

 

[HPearlyretiree]

This is for any new or old US haters out there who feel the need to constantly use this forum for your petty tirades.

First of all, there is nothing so awful that our airline has done to you that another airline hasn't done to somebody and some point. Chances are whatever we did that was so terrible has happened before and will happen again, nomatter how hard we try or who is charge. It's the nature of our business.

Second, get some perspective. Are missed connections, lost luggage, $2 beverages or a rude employee really that major when it comes to the grand scheme of our universe and what happens in the world around us?

Bad airline service? Good grief! What in the world will happen next -- a government official is found to be corrupt? Our taxes go up? An American-made car breaks down?

Face it folks, some things in life are inevitable. Accept it and move on.

Thank You!

The toxicity on this forum is just too much. Seems like some just want to make US the scapegoat for their own problems.

Its a job, there are other jobs out there that will cause you less angst and stress. But, its your responsibility to make yourself happy in your life, not anyone else's.

Here's to a good year for everyone.

 

[PHLFlyer]

Piney and JS -

Your points are respected and well taken. I truly know that there are people who may be "haters" but still want what is best for their needs as a customers and for a company they are loyal to.

My point is this: like paying taxes or fixing your car, air travel is not something that people like to do but at times have to do it. Another point is that there are always two sides to a story.

Airlines, like the government or car companies, serve the masses. They are large industries that won’t ever be perfect and will never please everyone.

No matter how effective Congress may be or how many good things our taxes may support, they will never get high approval ratings. For every daily airline "horror" story there are thousands and thousands of cases of seamless travel.

My point about American-made cars was that no matter how good they really may be, and if not better than foreign-made cars, there will always be a portion of the population that will always see them in a negative way.

Every time I hear about one of our US Airways “horrorâ€￾ stories, I can’t help but think that despite a lost bag or a missed connection, we still transported that person thousands of feet above the ground, at 600 mph and got them safely across the country in a matter of hours.

People always overlook this industry’s outstanding safety record which does not come without a tremendous cost and employee professionalism and dedication.

 

[BoeingBoy]

People always overlook this industry’s outstanding safety record which does not come without a tremendous cost and employee professionalism and dedication.

I don't think they overlook it as much as they expect that to be included no matter which carrier and how high or low the fare. Does anyone really think that a passenger who paid $119 expects to crash ("I knew I should have bought the $179 safe flight fare!!") while the $579 fare passenger sitting in the next seat expects a completely safe and on-time flight?

Where the value proposition starts breaking down is with the belief that getting safely from A to B on time and with their baggage is all that passengers expect no matter how much they pay. That minimum level of performance is expected - what the airline provides (or doesn't) above that is what can create the perception of value. US, having gone further than any other domestic airline with ala carte pricing, provides nothing above the bare bones minimum for 90% of passengers. Yet many of their fares are still the same as carriers that do offer something above the absolute minimum "get from A to B" service.

Jim

 

[Pacemaker]

I think there are really two US Airways. If you fly the airline and stay out of PHL, it's pretty much on par with the rest of the industry. However, if your travel plans include PHL, well, don't. Just don't.

 

[NCFL]

Many of your so called "Haters" of US Airways not only don't hate US Airways, rather it's the opposite. It's kinda like seeing your star athlete cousin ruin their career because of booze and drugs. It breaks your heart and you do everything you can to change their self destructive behavior.

I genuinely believe that US Airways is on the wrong path that will leave thousands of workers jobs in jeopardy along with customers being treated poorly

I'm in the same camp as Piney.

All of us so-called "haters" have different reasons for feeling the way we do, but from my seat, Piney's description of watching the alcoholic or addict destroy his life is spot-on accurate. You're powerless over his addiction, yet you ache for him to admit he has a problem, admit that his life has become unmanageable and accept that it will take complete abandonment of his old behaviors and rigorous honesty with himself if he is to have any hope of recovering. I, of all people, ought to understand how US is acting in this analogy very, very well.

It's no different for us "haters." We see our US addict in a downward spiral of customer dissatisfaction (if you want to keep denying that, go ahead, but www.dot.gov doesn't lie) and penny-wise, pound-foolish decisions. Our US addict is in active denial about the fact that it is alienating a very important customer segment - the high-dollar east coast VFF. It's customer-facing policy decisions, in spite of what management may think, are unpopular. People don't like USAir. Yet to read the spin (once you can get past all of the typos), you'd think otherwise.

Back to the alcoholic/addict analogy, if we're comparing US to a drunkard who is ruining his life and the lives of those in his family through addiction, the only solution for those who love him (the so-called "Haters") is to protect ourselves and to "detach with love." That's what they preach in Al-Anon.

I could really beat this addict/alcoholic analogy to death, but I'll stop for now...

 

[N965VJ]

I’m a playa', not a hata'.

 

[drifterreno]

I too understand your message, however, usairways used to be the airline that cared. If you lost a loved one and needed to get across the country to attend a funeral we helped. If you had a schedule change that was going to mess up your Christmas, Thanbksgiving, vacation, etc., we did everything we could to help get you there when you needed to. If you all of a sudden found out that you had a son coming home from a foreign battle ground we were there to help you get to him/her at the lowest cost. If you had a child that needed to get to a hospital for special treatment to save their life we helped.
Now, USAIRWAYS, could care less.
If you called USAirways you got a compationate, careing agent who lived in this country and knew where there was an emergency you could help them. You got an agent who knew a hurricane was on it's way and worked to get them out of harms way.
Today, you get some foreign agent who could care less much else know where in the country you were traveling from or to. USAirways gave up customer service for the almighty dollar.
Also, if you had an agent who needed to get to a parent in icu in another city they were given positive space to get there--why??--because we cared about our own.
Now, nobody cares and the employees can struggle to 1/get to their parent, 2/worry about being disciplined if they can't get back in time for work 3/worry about losing their job if they even begin to show some compassion to a customer or fellow employee.
This is where we vent our feelings and understand why the calls have dropped off. This is where an agent can vent if they can't get to work due to a state of emergency.
Sooooo if you don't like them venting--Just don't read this message board.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY FORMER FRIENDS AND AGENTS. GOD BLESS YOU.

 

[SolidCactus]

I too understand your message, however, usairways used to be the airline that cared. If you lost a loved one and needed to get across the country to attend a funeral we helped. If you had a schedule change that was going to mess up your Christmas, Thanbksgiving, vacation, etc., we did everything we could to help get you there when you needed to. If you all of a sudden found out that you had a son coming home from a foreign battle ground we were there to help you get to him/her at the lowest cost. If you had a child that needed to get to a hospital for special treatment to save their life we helped.
Now, USAIRWAYS, could care less.
If you called USAirways you got a compationate, careing agent who lived in this country and knew where there was an emergency you could help them. You got an agent who knew a hurricane was on it's way and worked to get them out of harms way.
Today, you get some foreign agent who could care less much else know where in the country you were traveling from or to. USAirways gave up customer service for the almighty dollar.
Also, if you had an agent who needed to get to a parent in icu in another city they were given positive space to get there--why??--because we cared about our own.
Now, nobody cares and the employees can struggle to 1/get to their parent, 2/worry about being disciplined if they can't get back in time for work 3/worry about losing their job if they even begin to show some compassion to a customer or fellow employee.
This is where we vent our feelings and understand why the calls have dropped off. This is where an agent can vent if they can't get to work due to a state of emergency.
Sooooo if you don't like them venting--Just don't read this message board.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY FORMER FRIENDS AND AGENTS. GOD BLESS YOU.

Well, you still do get this level of service from the Winston Salem people at the Chairmans desk... BUT I'd imagine it is only a matter of time before these awesome people retire and get replaced by low wage workers...

Look, the reality is that the entire aviation industry has its issues, but there is competition in America, and people will choose the BEST VALUE they can get for the price... Not simply the best price.

If it makes any of you feel any better, I think US Airways is hands down a better carrier than United.

 

[NCFL]

If it makes any of you feel any better, I think US Airways is hands down a better carrier than United.

Isn't that sort of like saying Grape Nuts taste better than All Bran when what we're really looking for is a bowl of Cap'n Crunch?

 

[N346PS]

i thought Capn' crunch retired years ago!

 

[cubfan]

Isn't that sort of like saying Grape Nuts taste better than All Bran when what we're really looking for is a bowl of Cap'n Crunch?

I love Grape Nuts hate Cap'n Crunch

 

[PHLFlyer]

There are valid complaints that can be expressed on this forum, no doubt about that. It's the posts about "wishing death" to all US employees because someone missed their connection that gets me going.

Delays, a lost bag, a rude employee, those things when it's our fault are, by the way, a valid complaint for someone, at some moment. I don't disagree about that. They should be directed to the proper channels like a supervisor, customer relations or the DOT.

The venom that gets spewed on this board gets ridiculous at times. Yes, you may have been inconvenienced, but some things are inevitable in this industry. Not all employees at US are "evil".

I'm not saying we should throw up our arms and shrug our issues off and say "hey, things happen." We should always aim to please our customers as much as possible and give everyone a seamless, uneventful travel experience. That should be our goal and I do think we are trying given our industry circumstances.

 

[Art at ISP]

Let's switch gears for a minute and look at the overall root cause of the problem: POOR MANAGEMENT.

This company is being run by a group whose only measurement of success or failure is the bottom line--today, with no thought given to investing in tomorrow or the future. And whatever it takes to get by-no more....

As long as they treat both employees and customers with the contempt they continue to show to this day, the dissatisfaction in both camps will continue to be much worse than within those groups at other carriers.

Is the company profitable? Maybe--but at $45 a barrel oil it BETTER BE.

Although I certainly do have strong feelings about US Airways, I would NEVER wish anyone any harm--in fact I sympathize strongly with those of you still out there trying to make the airline work right....despite a leadership vacuum at the top.

I have said elsewhere--I have no issues with SOME of the ala carte fees being charged today, but there is no excuse whatsoever to continue the main cabin beverage fees at this time--they are isolating US Airways as the CHEAP carrier, and further denigrating an already deficient product. Instead, they are ignorant of comments by both customers and employees, and are headed, in my humble opinion, down the wrong path.

Speaking for those I know personally, any of OUR comments, complaints, or suggestions were only made in an effort to help US right the ship and to help stem the loss of loyal frequent business travelers which, while pervasive across the airline industry today, is particularly noticeable at US. I would say the majority of those left are either hub captives, or those with a form of Stockholm syndrome.

Bottom line here is that until or unless the company realizes that its front line employees and its customers are its most valuable ASSETS, and need to be treated as such, there is little or no hope that they will recover.

Then again--maybe there is a master plan to shrink to a level where it can be sold off......but that's a theory to be explored another time.

To my friends at US, who I sincerely miss, I wish you all the best of Holiday Seasons, and just hope it starts to get better for you during the coming year.

My BEST to you all....