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Merger Update - DM Newsletter 05Jun07

singh4us

Senior
Mar 13, 2005
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Cyberspace
MERGER UPDATE - DIVIDEND MILES NEWSLETTER 05 JUNE 2007


Welcome again to the latest edition of the Merger Update, where we provide the plain English scoop on issues important to you, our frequent travelers. No corporate double speak; just a rundown of details on the most pressing questions of the day.

So, first things first. You may be weary of us apologizing for the tough times we had this spring due to the migration of our reservations system, but here it is: We sincerely apologize for the numerous failures. After a pretty nice start to the merger we’ve learned some tough lessons through all this and received some very helpful advice from many of you, some of which we’re applying already and some of which is unprintable. So thank you for sticking with us as we climb back on the horse.

OK, enough groveling, here’s what we’ve got…

Res Migration, Part LXXXVII <=======

Briefly, here’s the status on two of the big items we’re still working on.

Problem: Kiosks. We tried to apply the “West†software code to the “East†kiosks and it didn’t work very well. Yes, there’s more to it than that, but we know that what you care about is a solution.

Solution: First we upgraded the software so it works in most cases. But “most cases†isn’t enough, so we’ve ordered 600 new kiosks, with the first 100 arriving in June. Added to a base of 800, that’s a lot of kiosks. In fact, it may even leave one extra, since our CIO, Joe Beery says he’d like to be buried in a kiosk.

Problem: Reports and functionality for our employees. We didn’t adequately replicate some of the processes that many of our employees use to do their job every day. [N.S.?!!!]

Solution: We’ve formed teams of employees and programmers to get our staff what they need and are making good progress. [BBS]

What’s new in Dividend Miles

Improvements to First, Envoy and Coach Class all coming up


By popular demand we recently announced several enhancements to our in-flight product that I’m sure you’ll be pleased to see, including upgrading and rotating First Class meals more often (you don’t want another calzone?). It’s a lengthy list that includes upgrades to our 757 and 767 transatlantic aircraft.

usairways.com – getting better every eight weeks

Our release cycle is eight weeks, with the next upgrade due in June. As is our custom in the Merger Update, here’s a list of what we’ve recently added and what’s on deck.

We admit that some of these features are standard equipment on some other airline sites, but we started in a bit of hole at merger time and we’re quickly closing the gap. We intend to be fully caught up and more by…well, as soon as possible.

Recent enhancements:

Right now we’re in a “pit stop†to focus on performance improvements, speed and eliminating errors, but we’ve still had time to add a few new features including:

Support for Mac users. (We thought Apple was a fruit.) We now support Firefox 1.5 (and newer) for both Mac and PC, Safari 2.x+ for Mac, IE 6 and 7 for the PC and Commodore 64.

Bar codes on boarding passes to speed boarding.

Fixed Web Check-in for Firefox users.

Improved reliability of flight information for departure times, delays, etc.

Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) cards now accepted for all tickets and purchased upgrades.
What’s a UATP card?

Ability to see and confirm your itinerary online when US Airways makes a schedule change that affects you.

Coming in June (unless otherwise noted):

Show sold out flights. We’ll show you the entire schedule for that day, even sold out flights, so that you know what all the options are, or were.

More options from our Star Alliance partners. We’re adding more flight selections regularly from all Star partners. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as just loading them all up at once. We’re trying to get the most requested in first and anticipate having the bulk in by the end of the year.

Detailed flight status information for diverted flights during inclement weather.

Fixes to several seat map problems we’ve had lately.

Additionally, you’ll start to see a whole new, modern look, feel and booking process as the year goes along. Take a sneak peek at the current design of the new site.

Helpful tools for you that have not yet been announced


These handy gadgets will be available to you over the next few months. Watch your email for details:

usairways.com for your mobile device - Before you say “every airline has that,†hold on. When you go to usairways.com from your device, not only will it automatically detect that you’re on a mobile and format properly and give you flight information and schedules, but you’ll also be able to buy a ticket on the spot.

Flight information via text - Here’s a new one also. When you text a number to TEXTUS (839887), we’ll immediately text you back flight information for that flight. (It’s not turned on yet so don’t try it; your phone might explode!) Once it’s up and running it’ll be pretty handy when you’re on your way to the airport or landing with a tight connection.

There are more mobile and text applications on the way, including proactively sending flight changes to you and we’ll keep you posted on that.

Preferred program:

One of the great benefits of achieving Preferred status is the ability to receive complimentary upgrades to First Class. We’ve been hard at work automating the way upgrades are assigned. If you’re splitting your travel between us and another carrier, our improved Preferred upgrade program makes now a good time to go for Preferred status on US Airways.

Later this summer, we’ll be unveiling our new ‘Trial Preferred’ program, which will give eligible members a chance to experience the benefits of Silver, Gold and Platinum Preferred status for 90 days for a nominal fee. At the end of the 90-day trial period, members can keep their Preferred status if they’ve met certain mileage and segment requirements. If you want us to let you know when the program is available, send an email to [email protected].

Some promotions & new program features that might interest you:

‘Y B Ordinary’ promotion – Get a 50% Preferred-qualifying mileage bonus every time you fly on a Y or B Coach fare.

1st Time Club Enrollment Offer – Enroll in the US Airways Club for your first time and get 2,500 Preferred-qualifying miles.

New redemption options. This summer, we’ll be unveiling additional redemption opportunities designed to give you more ways to use your miles. Stay tuned…

Now let’s all get back to work

I hope this update is helpful for you and thanks again for your business and for flying with us. We’ll keep you updated through these Merger Updates, although we’ll probably need to change the name soon, since our final “single certificate†with the FAA is nearing completion. In the meantime, we’ll continue to work to wrap up our final merger projects.

With Warm Regards,

H. Travis Christ
Vice President, Sales and Marketing

========

(Longing for a CCY "World Class Global Carrier" Press Release....sigh!!!) :blink:
 
(Longing for a CCY "World Class Global Carrier" Press Release....sigh!!!) :blink:

No kidding! This Press Release to the membership reads more like a letter posted on the doorframe of a cabin at Summer Camp! :blink:
 
We are doomed.

I did not see one mention on how he has treated his front line employee’s.
 
Christ's quirky attempt at injecting humor to our preferred members is inane! Part of the solution to being a world class carrier again is to be professional! Good grief! :blink:
 
NO MORE CALZONES! :lol: Maybe they found out they were prepared and packaged in China. I hope that nasty, disgusting piece of crap NEVER returns. (I certainly hope the person responsible for putting that ON the menu chokes on one :down: ). Sh*t IS Sh*t!
 
embedded within the style you chose to write in (in this case abject indifference and colloquial) are assumptions about your reading audience. yet again, travis has insulted the sensibilities of our most valued customers. this is disgusting!!
 
The "amazing" thing is that he plaigiarizes himself. The May update said exactly the same thing, same words, etc. except for a couple of items in the middle of the update!

One of the new items for June is charging a NOMINAL FEE for the Preferred Trial, which has been free until this summer.

So even his "plain English" creativity is gone. He is just rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat...

This was the May 21 update so you can compare and contrast May and June. It's like dèjà vu all over again:

Welcome again to the latest edition of the Merger update, where we provide the plain English scoop on issues important to you, our Preferred members. No corporate double speak; just a rundown of details on the most pressing questions of the day.

So, first things first. You may be weary of us apologizing for the tough times we had this spring due to the migration of our reservations system, but here it is: We sincerely apologize for the numerous failures. After a pretty nice start to the merger we’ve learned some tough lessons through all this and received some very helpful advice from many of you, some of which we’re applying already, and some of which is unprintable. So thank you for sticking with us as we climb back on the horse.

Okay, enough groveling, here’s what we’ve got…

Res Migration, Part LXXXVII

Briefly, here’s the status on two of the big items we’re still working on.

Problem: Kiosks. We tried to apply the "West" software code to the "East" kiosks and it didn’t work very well. Yes, there’s more to it than that, but we know that what you care about is a solution.
Solution: First we upgraded the software so it works in most cases. But "most cases" isn’t enough, so we’ve ordered 600 new kiosks, with the first 100 arriving in June. Added to a base of 800, that’s a lot of kiosks. In fact, it may even leave one extra, since our CIO, Joe Beery says he’d like to be buried in a kiosk.

Problem: Reports and functionality for our employees. We didn’t adequately replicate some of the processes that many of our employees use to do their job every day.
Solution: We’ve formed teams of employees and programmers to get our staff what they need, and are making good progress.
Upgrades — New and Improving

As part of Res Migration (the good part) we took the most important step in the process of making upgrades more reliable than ever. Go to usairways.com/dm for a refresher on upgrade priorities. Here are other details on how it works:

We currently run the program three times daily.
It takes several hours to scan all bookings for the next seven days, searching for Preferred reservations on flights with open seats up front.
We have new equipment on order that will reduce the processing time even further.
We send you an email at the first upgrade attempt, to tell you ‘yea’ or ‘nay.’ We’ll only email you again if we find a seat during subsequent sweeps.

If you make your reservation on the same day or the day before your travel, however, then it’s a good idea to either call or check in online because that’s when the airport process takes over. For example, for a Wednesday 5 p.m. departure, the airport process generally takes over on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EST.

There's a fly in the ointment, though. When customers call in, it interrupts our process. Some other airlines don’t allow customers to call in and they let the machine do it all. What do you think of that? Should we not allow calling so the machine can give everyone equal treatment? Tell us what you think by sending an email to the 'ideas' email address below.

If you aren’t receiving upgrade emails and have no idea what I’m talking about then please go to usairways.com for some helpful hints on how to beat spam filters that can catch upgrade emails. If you continue to have problems with email, please drop us a note at [email protected].

Keep the Change (Fee)

We heard from many of you that the $25 fee for changing your flight on the day of departure is a hassle and a bit obnoxious. So we just canceled it for Preferred members. Now go home early!

Improvements to First, Envoy and Coach Class All Coming Up

By popular demand we recently announced several enhancements to our in-flight product that I’m sure you’ll be pleased to see, including upgrading and rotating first class meals more often (you don’t want another calzone?). It’s a lengthy list that includes upgrades to our 757 and 767 transatlantic aircraft.

usairways.com — Getting Better Every Eight Weeks

Our release cycle is eight weeks, with the next upgrade due in June. As is our custom in the Merger update, here’s a list of what we’ve recently added, and what’s on deck.

We admit that some of these features are standard equipment on some other airline sites, but we started in a bit of a hole at merger time and we’re quickly closing the gap. We intend to be fully caught up and more by…well, as soon as possible.

Recent Enhancements

Right now we’re in a "pit stop" to focus on performance improvements, speed and eliminating errors, but we’ve still had time to add a few new features including:

Bar codes on boarding passes to speed boarding.
Fixed Web Check-in for Firefox users.
Improved reliability of flight information for departure times, delays, etc.
Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) cards now accepted for all tickets and purchased upgrades. What’s a UATP card?
Ability to see and confirm your itinerary online when US Airways makes a schedule change that affects you.

Coming in June (unless otherwise noted)

Show sold out flights. We’ll show you the entire schedule for that day, even sold out flights, so that you know what all the options are, or were.
Support for Mac users. We’re ready to support the latest versions of Safari and Firefox for Mac. (We thought Apple was a fruit.) By the end of this month we’ll begin supporting Firefox 1.5 (or newer) both Mac and PC, Safari 2.x+ for Mac, IE 6 and 7 for the PC and Commodore 64.
More options from our Star Alliance partners. We’re adding more flight selections regularly from all Star partners. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as just loading them all up at once. We’re trying to get the most requested in first and anticipate having the bulk in by the end of the year.
Detailed flight status information for diverted flights during inclement weather.
Fixes to several seat map problems we’ve had lately.
Additionally, you’ll start to see a whole new, modern look, feel and booking process as the year goes along. Take a sneak peek at the current design of the new site.

We’re engaging a number of our Preferred members to get their feedback and ideas on these and many more web changes. If you’d like to volunteer for that, or have any other thoughts on the site, please send us a note at [email protected]. We really do read and consider every single email that we get at ‘ideas,’ although because there are so many we can’t reply to every one. It doesn’t help that someone put that box on a spam list. Whoever did that, we’re revoking your Preferred status!

Helpful Tools for You That Have Not Yet Been Announced

These handy gadgets will be available to you over the next few months. Watch your email for details:

usairways.com for your mobile device. Before you say "every airline has that," hold on. When you go to usairways.com from your device, not only will it automatically detect that you’re on a mobile, format properly and give you flight information and schedules, but you’ll also be able to buy a ticket on the spot.
Flight information via text. Here’s a new one also. When you text a number to TEXTUS (839887), we’ll immediately text you back flight information for that flight. (It’s not turned on yet so don’t try it; your phone might explode.) Once it’s up and running it’ll be pretty handy when you’re on your way to the airport or landing with a tight connection.
There are more mobile and text applications on the way, including proactively sending flight changes to you, and we’ll keep you posted on that.

Now Let’s All Get Back to Work

I hope this update is helpful for you, and thanks again for flying with us and for being a Preferred member. We know it takes a lot of time and money to reach Preferred status and we are working hard to continue to earn your business. We’ll keep you updated through these Merger updates, although we’ll probably need to change the name soon, since our final “single certificateâ€￾ with the FAA is nearing completion. In the meantime, please keep your ideas coming.
 
Its humorously written, I'm a fan of self-deprecating wit. Not everyone is- if we were a boutique airline this would be okay, but I'm not sure how this type of thing translates for a large network carrier (half) trying to to be a global carrier. Some of our fliers might find this endearing and refreshingly honest though, we'll see.

I think we have found our new slogan, it should be put on a pin.... Anyone creative with photoshop?

US AIRWAYS
We sincerely apologize for the numerous failures!
 
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #14
QUOTE(singh4us @ Jun 5 2007, 10:36 PM)

(Longing for a CCY "World Class Global Carrier" Press Release....sigh!!!)

No kidding! This Press Release to the membership reads more like a letter posted on the doorframe of a cabin at Summer Camp! :blink:

(From personal archives...)

Annoucned 12 Nov 1996

INTRODUCING US AIRWAYS


Dear Fellow Employees:

Our airline is changing. With your help, we have taken many positive steps over the past ten months toward our goal of becoming the carrier of choice.

We have expanded our reach across the Atlantic, and we are deligently pursuing more route authorities, including rights to London Heathrow. Your dedication has resulted in marked improvements in operational performance. We are investing significant resources to refurbish and standardize our fleet interiors; to expand First Class cabins; to upgrade our Clubs; and to offer innovative technologies to better serve our customers.

We are building momentum, and the time has come to make a clear statement to our customer, the marketplace and ourselves about our evolving company.

In early 1997, the name of our airline will become US Airways and our signature, colors and identity will reflect the new and higher standards we have set for ourselves. On these pages you see the extent of our commitment. Our new beginning aims to capture the spirit of the substantial advances we are making, to inspire all of us to continue our progress and to signal to our customers that this is an improving company in all respects. We are focused, and we will become the carrier of choice.

US Airways. We hope that you enjoy this preview of our new corporate identity, and we are counting on you to speak our new name with enthusiasm and fly our colors with pride.

Stepehn M. Wolf

Rakesh Gangwal

....

(Inside brochure)

A NEW SPIRIT & PERSONALITY

Early next year, we become US Airways to reflect the new spirit and personality of an airline with substance, style, international breadth and experience that is taking its place among the major carriers of the world.

Our new identity features a modified name, updated color scheme and stylized version of the American flag as our symbol!

The flag signature, which will appear on the tails of all our aircrft, has tremendous potential in its simplicity, its familiarity and its broad application. The symbol is a statement of what we aspire to represent -- the best this country has to offer. In a short time, people will immediately associate this design with US Airways.

In early 1997, we will begin changing the exterior look of our aircraft to the new livery pictured here. The top half of the aircraft will be painted a deep blue and the underside a medium gray with accent stripes of red and white along the lenght of the fuselage and at the top of the tail.

The color scheme and design make a fresh statement about our character and direction. The new identity eventually will appear everywhere that the public sees us -- from aircraft livery to ticket counters and baggage carts to business cards.

CABIN UPGRADES

The entire domestic fleet will be refurbished, creating First Class and coach cabins with a sense of freshness, brightness and quality.

ENVOY CLASS

US Airways introduces Envoy Class aboard transatlantic flights in the spring of 1997. This new business class product deomonstrates our commitment to put the airline in fact and perception in the top tier of U.S. and international carriers.

The Envoy Class cabin will feature new sleeper-type seats with greater recline and in-arm video units. The space between the rows will set the industry standard in business class, creating a roomy, elegant environment for business travelers. For those flying in Envoy Class, our new international lounge in Philadelphia will offer a relaxing oasis at the outset of their transatlantic journey.

TASTEFUL AND CONTEMPORARY

While it will take three years to transform the exterior of the entire fleet, other items will change almost immediately. Ticket jackets, stationery and service items are examples. Another is our onboard magazine, which will be renamed Attache`, in keeping with the overall corporate theme.

DIVIDEND MILES PROGRAM

US Airways' millions of loyal customers will experience new opportunities in our enhanced and renamed mileage reward program beginning in January. The base program will be called Dividend Miles. The Priority Gold level becomes Dividend Preferred and Priority Gold Plus becomes Dividend Perferred Plus. And for most frequent customers -- those traveling more than 100,000 miles per year -- a new top level, called Chairman's Preferred, will feature free Club membership, ugrades and special reservation and airport service.

ABOUT OUR SIGNATURE

The US Airways signature exist in three versions to accommodate the various applications of the corporate identity. The first signature is featured on the aircraft. The other two variations are shown below.

======

(Those were the days.....sigh! :blink: )
 
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