PAWOB Award - Week of 4/23 to 4/29/2007

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Okay, the Prince has been stumped this week. This is partly because I've been P.I.S.S.P.O.T.S (which is code for Prince Is Still Seeking PAWOBs On Tour Secretly). And, fortunately enough, I haven't found anything worth mentioning. This is great for US Airways, but bad for the award program. So, I leave it to you, my fine forum members, to pick this week's winner. I hate to do this again, but when there is no clear cut winner for me to pick on, I have to turn to you, my dutiful comrades.

In addition, sometime this week the Prince will be calling for price quotes on a fine Silver Turd Trophy. The cost of this fabulous piece of...well, you know...will be announced when I find the cheapest piece of...uh huh...to produce. I can't wait to see the look on the unsuspecting salesperson who takes my order for such a ridiculous piece of...I'm sure by now you've figured out what I'm talking about.

Carry on, troops!

 

[2clippedwings]

I nominate Scott Kirby. After this recent news article from the East Valley Tribune, Mr Kirby appears to have arrived at America West/USAirways without much baggage.
Since then he has been the recipient of just about every possible responsibility in running this house of cards. How can one man do justice to so many responsibilities?
He Can't.

April 29, 2007
A ‘take charge’ guy soars high
Tony Natale, Tribune

"Kirby, president of the nation’s fifth largest domestic airline, works out of the company’s corporate headquarters at 111 W. Rio Salado Parkway.

He earns $2.7 million-a-year, plus stock options.

“I was always trying to earn money as a kid by mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, and, once I tried to start a company with a buddy. We sold firecrackers — and we nearly blew ourselves up!†"

"His role as president of the airline that has nearly 36,000 employees following the merger with America West Airlines in September, 2005 demands not only strong leadership skills, but, Kirby agrees, a positive attitude as well."


"Kirby is primarily responsible for the day-to-day operations of US Airways and its nearly 3,800 flights per day in 240 communities in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America."

"He also directs US Airways sales and marketing operations, a major challenge for the airline that, as part of the US Airways Group."

"“The merger created many challenges,†said Kirby, also responsible for customer service, labor relations, maintenance, safety, ticket pricing, scheduling and information technology for the airline’s computer program system."

"Besides closing the US Airways offices in Virginia, another of Kirby’s responsibilities was combining the staffs from both airlines at the nine-story corporate headquarters in Tempe. He also directed blending both airlines’ reservation systems, integration of airport ticket and customer service and making sure all America West airplanes were repainted in the US Airways motif. "

“We had some problems along the way, but we’re nearly completed with the merger process,†said Kirby,"(????)

"Key Achievement: Since joining America West Airlines in 1995 as a senior director of scheduling and planning, Kirby has steadily been promoted and given additional responsibilities. He advanced to vice president of planning in 1997 and the following year was named vice president of revenue management. By 2000, Kirby was appointed senior vice president of American West’s computer program system and, in September, 2006, was named president of the then-newly merged airline, US Airways"

"Background: Kirby earned a degree in computer science and operations research in 1989 from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and a Masters of Science degree from George Washington University in Washington, D. C. Prior to joining America West Airlines, he worked for Sabre Decision Technologies (SDT), a subsidiary of AMR Corp. that serves the travel and transportation industry and before joining SDT he worked for three years in the Secretary of Defense’S office at the Pentagon as a budget analyst "

"Philosophy for success: Keep driving for results. Be creative. Question the way things are done. Do in life what you enjoy"

 

[Harry Callahan]

Prince, we missed hundreds of bags in CLT last night especially on the 1900 bank. "Many" bags were still riding the belt at 2230 last night. Can't schedule all these island flts to connect to same bank.
IT DOES NOT WORK TEMPE.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Prince, we missed hundreds of bags in CLT last night especially on the 1900 bank. "Many" bags were still riding the belt at 2230 last night. Can't schedule all these island flts to connect to same bank.
IT DOES NOT WORK TEMPE.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. CLT declines in connecting baggage, and still no one is addressing this in management. Are we unable to schedule these flights into CLT due to restrictions that are in place at the other airports? Or is it some other reason that only a select few are aware of in management? Maybe there is a current or former employee who can enlighten us as to the rationale behind the scheduling of the inbound international flights, or maybe just the 1900 bank flights as a whole.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. CLT declines in connecting baggage, and still no one is addressing this in management.

Have you noticed what gets management's attention which leads to statements about "fixes" being put in place? Seems to me that it's largely the problems that make the headlines.

When CLT baggage misconnects make the headlines, maybe someone in Tempe will start to notice.....

Jim

 

[Harry Callahan]

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. CLT declines in connecting baggage, and still no one is addressing this in management. Are we unable to schedule these flights into CLT due to restrictions that are in place at the other airports? Or is it some other reason that only a select few are aware of in management? Maybe there is a current or former employee who can enlighten us as to the rationale behind the scheduling of the inbound international flights, or maybe just the 1900 bank flights as a whole.

I'm going to throw this in the mill it's a daily thing, 1700 or 1800 dep bank whatever you want to call it (CLT). Island flt 910 MBJ 1840 NAS come in to connect to this bank. Almost never on time. We miss I dare say 3/4 of the bags off these flts.

 

[BuffaloJoe]

I'm going to throw this in the mill it's a daily thing, 1700 or 1800 dep bank whatever you want to call it (CLT). Island flt 910 MBJ 1840 NAS come in to connect to this bank. Almost never on time. We miss I dare say 3/4 of the bags off these flts.

What is the overall percentage of OnTime flights with US? Is there a rate that does not include the Philly factor?

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Have you noticed what gets management's attention which leads to statements about "fixes" being put in place? Seems to me that it's largely the problems that make the headlines.

When CLT baggage misconnects make the headlines, maybe someone in Tempe will start to notice.....

Jim

You're right, and that's the scary thing. These guys have got to be proactive, especially when it comes to these misconnects. This cannot simply be chalked up to the cost of doing business. When these bags misconnect, they have got to be costing the airline in a lack of repeat business, not to mention the delivery costs.

C'mon, Tempe. You know, I may not be in the position to make the changes any further than what I do in my station to prevent this type of stuff from happening, but you all are. So now you can add this to your To Do list, along with the merged certificate, bargaining unit woes and the ridiculous reservation system.

If you want the job done, get someone who knows what to do.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

I'm going to throw this in the mill it's a daily thing, 1700 or 1800 dep bank whatever you want to call it (CLT). Island flt 910 MBJ 1840 NAS come in to connect to this bank. Almost never on time. We miss I dare say 3/4 of the bags off these flts.

Okay, Coach. I take you at your word, because you fight the fight every shift you work, and you know better than anyone else what is going on with baggage in CLT.

So now the corporate lurkers know, too. This Jamaica flight is chronically late, which means it's a perfect place to start when it comes to fixing the connection mess.

Ask yourself:

1) Why is this flight late most of the time?

2) How do we improve its arrival time?

3) Is this flight a good candidate for having it's departure/arrival times changed?

4) Should more employees be allocated to working this flight when it comes in?

5) How are these bags being handled when they are offloaded? (Are they being trucked around the concourses? Dumped in the belt system?)

6) What else can be done to improve the MBR during this particular bank of flights?

You see, starting small and addressing one problem to find a solution has a cascade effect throughout the rest of the flights. Yes, there are problems with staffing, there are problems with weather, there are problems with the monsters that live under your bed. Until you get someone to deal with the problems who is not restricted by Excel spreadsheets and hassled by managers who believe their positions are to be unassailable fiefdoms within the confines of their respective airports, the same problems will occur over and over again.

I'd do it, but I want a bigger slice of the Four Points pie.

What is the overall percentage of OnTime flights with US? Is there a rate that does not include the Philly factor?

Even better than that, I'd like to see a breakdown of hubs based on banks/times. Then trends could be noted based on where the flights were originating and what kind of serious misconnections were occuring.

You know, to add to my previous posts on this subject, anyone who had any sort of job to "fix" these sorts of problems would have to be someone willing to go station to station and actually talk to the agents doing the daily work. Someone who is going to listen and act as opposed to holding some ridiculous Q&A where the standard answers are, "I don't know." and "I'll get back to you on that."

Boy! I'm up way too late, and I'm slightly irritated.