http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...L&type=business
Low morale afflicts US Airways workers
Concessions keep them flying but unhappy
Claudia H. Deutsch, New York Times
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
It is a management truism that low morale among workers inevitably results in low productivity, low quality, erosion of customer loyalty and, ultimately, lower profits.
And US Airways employees, who have seen their pay cut by more than 20 percent and their health insurance and pension plans shrink, are certainly an unhappy lot.
"People are still giving 110 percent, but they are being totally beaten down," said Francis Smith, 53, a 24-year employee who handles spare-parts inventories in Pittsburgh.
Even if they were slouching on the job, would it matter? These days, passengers are more likely to comb the Internet for cheap, convenient flights than to patronize a favorite airline. Thus, if smiling employees and squeaky- clean planes no longer woo repeat business, would scowling employees and dirty planes drive it away?
"I'm not sure that employee morale is so important anymore," said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management. "Air travel has become a commodity, and passengers make their decisions on who's got the cheapest fare, not on whose employees are the friendliest."
Still, management experts say the miasma of gloom will probably take a toll, not just at US Airways, but at Delta, United and most other airlines.
"Passengers can sense the attitudes, the emotion, the stress, and it carries over to their tangible impression of the company," said John Kasarda, a professor of management who specializes in airlines at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina.
The biggest question for US Airways is whether it can overcome the bad morale before the bad morale helps do it in. Company executives say they are taking steps that will improve working conditions and profitability.
For now, the airline seems to be hanging on. On a recent Monday afternoon, for example, Barry Levy flew the US Airways shuttle from Boston to La Guardia in New York. The flight, he said, was remarkable for being unremarkable. It took off on time, flight attendants were pleasant, and customer service representatives in New York helped him book a contingency return flight on Delta in case he missed the last shuttle home.
Indeed, US Airways employees seem almost proud that they are keeping their personal woes from the outside world. Dianne Fogarty, a US Airways flight attendant with 33 years of service, has lost pay and vacation days and said she was resentful that, in her view, management sees her as only a dollar sign. Nonetheless, she said, "they will not take my work ethic, my sense of humor or my smile."
While service may not be slipping, worker productivity may be a thornier issue. It is difficult to quantify -- flight times and schedules are out of employee control, as are delays at congested airports. Still, there is anecdotal evidence that some pilots have slowed their planes and that some employees have been calling in sick more often, either out of anger or a practical desire to use up sick days.
Moreover, pilots, flight attendants and tarmac workers express a mounting anger at a management they say blames employees for the company's woes while it hampers their productivity by scheduling flights that keep them waiting for hours.
Low morale afflicts US Airways workers
Concessions keep them flying but unhappy
Claudia H. Deutsch, New York Times
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
It is a management truism that low morale among workers inevitably results in low productivity, low quality, erosion of customer loyalty and, ultimately, lower profits.
And US Airways employees, who have seen their pay cut by more than 20 percent and their health insurance and pension plans shrink, are certainly an unhappy lot.
"People are still giving 110 percent, but they are being totally beaten down," said Francis Smith, 53, a 24-year employee who handles spare-parts inventories in Pittsburgh.
Even if they were slouching on the job, would it matter? These days, passengers are more likely to comb the Internet for cheap, convenient flights than to patronize a favorite airline. Thus, if smiling employees and squeaky- clean planes no longer woo repeat business, would scowling employees and dirty planes drive it away?
"I'm not sure that employee morale is so important anymore," said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management. "Air travel has become a commodity, and passengers make their decisions on who's got the cheapest fare, not on whose employees are the friendliest."
Still, management experts say the miasma of gloom will probably take a toll, not just at US Airways, but at Delta, United and most other airlines.
"Passengers can sense the attitudes, the emotion, the stress, and it carries over to their tangible impression of the company," said John Kasarda, a professor of management who specializes in airlines at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina.
The biggest question for US Airways is whether it can overcome the bad morale before the bad morale helps do it in. Company executives say they are taking steps that will improve working conditions and profitability.
For now, the airline seems to be hanging on. On a recent Monday afternoon, for example, Barry Levy flew the US Airways shuttle from Boston to La Guardia in New York. The flight, he said, was remarkable for being unremarkable. It took off on time, flight attendants were pleasant, and customer service representatives in New York helped him book a contingency return flight on Delta in case he missed the last shuttle home.
Indeed, US Airways employees seem almost proud that they are keeping their personal woes from the outside world. Dianne Fogarty, a US Airways flight attendant with 33 years of service, has lost pay and vacation days and said she was resentful that, in her view, management sees her as only a dollar sign. Nonetheless, she said, "they will not take my work ethic, my sense of humor or my smile."
While service may not be slipping, worker productivity may be a thornier issue. It is difficult to quantify -- flight times and schedules are out of employee control, as are delays at congested airports. Still, there is anecdotal evidence that some pilots have slowed their planes and that some employees have been calling in sick more often, either out of anger or a practical desire to use up sick days.
Moreover, pilots, flight attendants and tarmac workers express a mounting anger at a management they say blames employees for the company's woes while it hampers their productivity by scheduling flights that keep them waiting for hours.
Don't let the door hit ya! "GOOD DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 
