Mr. Kiosk, You are wanted in the Managers Office

[tadjr]

Seems like the kiosks had an issue systemwide today where they were not charging for bags (for several hours!). Not sure exactly what happened, but the frantic manager call (of course after another manager had already been notified by the agents that something was up) indicated that it was a multi conference call issue!

And how much more money just walked out the door today? :down:

Also wondering if Tempe is going to adjust the station % requirements for the incentive fund this month since we took a hit thanks to the equipment. Maybe just leave todays numbers out altogether? Think about how much revenue the station could have lost in even just 2 hours of no bag charges.

Anyone have an idea what actually happened to cause this little "glitch"?

 

[VAflyGal]

Blame Labor! It's the pilots fault! It's the flight attendants fault! It's the agents fault! Orwell, watch out, Orwell! These computers are developing minds of their own!

Today the kiosks, tomorrow the HHDs, next week... THE WORLD!!!

 

[SS255]

Seems like the kiosks had an issue systemwide today where they were not charging for bags (for several hours!). Not sure exactly what happened, but the frantic manager call (of course after another manager had already been notified by the agents that something was up) indicated that it was a multi conference call issue!

And how much more money just walked out the door today? :down:

Uh-oh! The bag-check fee functionality should run on its own emergency generator.

 

[hp_fa]

You are all wrong! It was the passengers' fault.

 

[PHL]

Are the kiosks maintained and managed by the same entity that does all the IT operations at US (web site, reservation system, airport agent terminals, etc. etc. etc.)? I assume they are able to take updates automatically when fixes need to be "pushed" out (much like Windows does, if you let it). So...was some kind of code change pushed out prior to this debacle?

If you've been involved in any IT rollouts (which I realize many on this board have been in their various jobs), you know that if something all of a sudden "isn't working", it's because something was changed. And, that "something" that changed was often not properly tested to see what potential downstream effects existed.

Wonder what the excuse is for this one......

 

[tadjr]

Wonder what the excuse is for this one......

It was Tuesday. :blink: :blink:

 

[does this plane go to paris]

It was the passengers' fault

Reminds me of the funniest joke I've heard on a flight.

After a particular "hard" landing, the Customers were looking at each other and murmuring amoungst each other and the F/A made the following announcement:

"Folks, I know that was not a normal landing and we know you want to blame the Pilot's, but it wasn't their fault. You may also want to blame the Flight Attendant's, but wasn't our fault. You also may want to blame Boeing, but it wasn't their fault. If you want to blame someone, blame the runway, it was the asphalt."

Back to the OT, I find it amazing that there are station incentive's to check in bags. Are station employee's assigned to security check points to make Customers go back and check in larger bags if the managers know their numbers are down?

 

[Travels2mch]

Blame Labor! It's the pilots fault! It's the flight attendants fault! It's the agents fault! Orwell, watch out, Orwell! These computers are developing minds of their own!

Today the kiosks, tomorrow the HHDs, next week... THE WORLD!!!

The jetstream??

 

[phllax]

Maybe it was due to the fact that stations in Canada and some Caribbean stations are not charging for bags due to the new security protocols.

 

[tadjr]

Back to the OT, I find it amazing that there are station incentive's to check in bags. Are station employee's assigned to security check points to make Customers go back and check in larger bags if the managers know their numbers are down?

Not in my station. We dont have the staffing numbers to have someone standing at the checkpoint and we only made incentive (its more than just bag numbers) 3 out of 11 months so far last year. Globe does id checks in my station and the airport has a sizer box at the tram so while they are checking id, they have customers try their bags in the box. Some come back, but not nearly enough if you listen to the gate folks that have to check them at the plane. Also, I dont think they get any info on their bag numbers til the end of the month when the overall station reports are calculated. We just got our Nov report last week.
We've tried to get someone stationed at the tram to send big bags back, not for the incentive money, but to make it easier for the gate and having to check lots of bags and he said no, so he isnt going to do it just for incentive money for the agents use.

 

[SpinDoc]

Back to the OT, I find it amazing that there are station incentive's to check in bags. Are station employee's assigned to security check points to make Customers go back and check in larger bags if the managers know their numbers are down?

No. The company doesn't find it cost effective to employ an agent to police carry-on bags at the checkpoint. That being said, in the past week, I have personally observed several 26 inch roller boards being checked for "free" in the jetway on at least 5 flights, which points to lost revenue, yet the company refuses to enforce their own policy by using a bag checker at the security checkpoint.

 

[john john]

No. The company doesn't find it cost effective to employ an agent to police carry-on bags at the checkpoint. That being said, in the past week, I have personally observed several 26 inch roller boards being checked for "free" in the jetway on at least 5 flights, which points to lost revenue, yet the company refuses to enforce their own policy by using a bag checker at the security checkpoint.

That is why the government needs to get involved

 

[bwipilot]

That is why the government needs to get involved

I hope you're kidding. They'll have 2 people sitting in folding chairs behind a table doing absolutely nothing. Why 2 checkers? So they can keep waking each other up after they run out of finishing all of their stories from the hood--definitely not so they can get more work done.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Blame Labor! It's the pilots fault! It's the flight attendants fault! It's the agents fault! Orwell, watch out, Orwell! These computers are developing minds of their own!

Today the kiosks, tomorrow the HHDs, next week... THE WORLD!!!

It's the jet stream. It's Chinese New Year.

 

[ClueByFour]

No. The company doesn't find it cost effective to employ an agent to police carry-on bags at the checkpoint. That being said, in the past week, I have personally observed several 26 inch roller boards being checked for "free" in the jetway on at least 5 flights, which points to lost revenue, yet the company refuses to enforce their own policy by using a bag checker at the security checkpoint.

How do you plan to do that in a station (take PIT, since I believe you are familiar with it) where the TSA checks IDs? I'd tell an airline agent at the PIT checkpoint to snod off. "Flying the competition today."

The problem with this is that at a common checkpoint (and honestly, in the entire US system I can think of the BOS shuttle pier, some of PHL, and parts of DCA that are essentially all US) a US agent cannot reliably determine what airline a given pax is flying that day. And as long as there are airlines with more permissive rules, you don't really have standing to intercept a pax or their bag.

That is why the government needs to get involved

Nope. The company can size and check/charge for bags at the gate. That they choose not to do so is not a government problem.