jimcfs
Veteran
BostonTerrier said:
BostonTerrier:
I'm also a member of FFOCUS. I'm also a part of the academic community, a college professor. I am approaching 2 million earned miles on US over the past 15+ years. I've been around.
Yes, the service today isn't the same as it was in the late 80's and early 90's. The one thing that is the same are the people at US. When I was flying a lot more than I do now, I had "relationships" with people at the US stations I would fly through frequently. Yes, that might not sound like an appropriate word here... but when you see these people week after week after week, they become a part of your life, just as your customers were a part of yours. When you checkin and you don't just get the "here's your seat", but you get "how's things going?"... "on your way to see your girlfriend again?" and so on, it shows you the human side of the equation.
I had the opportunity to talk to a supervisor out in SFO the last time I was out there this summer. She was not happy how things were going. But she couldn't quit her job and go back to her other love, teaching, because the pay at US was better than teaching second grade. She had to pay bills. BUT, she cared for her customer. That was clear in the discussion we had that evening. I hope she can choose what she needs to do... and I hope you made your decision for the right reasons (and I'm not saying either of you have made your decisions for the right/wrong reasons). I, too, am one who made that decision 15 years ago to go to education instead of making much more money in the tech industry. It's a decision I've never looked back on, and I hope you don't look back on the education decision either.
I've learned through the people of US many lessons including...
1. Poopie happens... clean it up and get over it. Wait, GoFares Boy (my almost 4 year old son who wants to "fly with daddy on USAirways"... he says that) taught me that too. 😉 I could probably help write the book on what can happen when you fly. If you can't look past a lot of it, you're going to die from the stress.
2. Nice things happen to nice people. Sure, having status helps, but being positive and kind goes a lot farther than being mean and demanding. My wife calls it being a Tazmanian, like the Tazmanian Devil. I used to be a Taz... big time. I've done my share of complaining to Deb's office, I'm now not afraid to admit that. One thing I must say about us FFOCUSers... most of us are real real nice people. I've made many new friends in this group. I wonder what would happen if we filled a plane with FFOCUSers? (I'll leave this question open for debate, and no fighting for the FC seats now.)
3. "Have it your way" is only at Burger King. This industry is changing. US has had to change to keep up. Yes, we've lost amenties up front. Yes, we've lost mainline service at many locations (including some of the ones I fly from most, CRW, ROA, and CAK). But, instead of getting turboprops, we are getting some RJ's, which aren't so bad on short hops. I can live without a FC seat, but I do want a cup of coffee on a 6AM flight. And yes, we know the frontliners have had to change too with pay cuts and longer hours. Lots of frontliners lost their jobs or were relocated from airports like those I list above. We miss them.
You have to decide which is better, a job, even with the cuts and longer hours, go somewhere else where the jobs are, or go with no job. Some of my students haven't figured part out and choose the latter. I hope that nothing happens to US to make the latter happen to all these good US people. And I hope the great attitudes and personalities of these people stay the way they are, no matter what happens.
As another member of FFOCUS, my best to you BT, and to any current or former US people reading this thread.
