PHL getting fixed?

[barbeetantrums]

Piney and others,
Please do not expect workgroups or joint committees to come to fruition. Former AWA management, and it seems old US management, love to have these committees with supervisors, managers, directors and (select) rampers and, in the end, some schmoo at the director level will do whatever pleases him and he will go with that. It's the Tony Granthams, Dale Salisburys and Ken Fishers that make the decisions. The (select) ramper is there to make rampers feel warm and fuzzy. The supervisors and managers may as well not even attend. Noone is listening to them, either. Directors and VPs figure that if they wanted to hear an a-hole, they could just fart. If we were all so smart, we would be directors and VPs. That is the way it is and always will be. -_-

 

[700UW]

Committees, Workgroups, whatever you want to label is nothing new, we have been there done that.

 

[tug_slug]

And with your attitude so clearly stated above you're 1,000% correct.

Clearly the old ways you so colorfully described hasn't and likely will not work then don't you agree that it's time to try something new?

Sorry Bob, quitting isn't an option quitting's a cop out. Imagine where this country would be if everyone who faced an obstacle said "the hell with it" and quit?

 

[700UW]

There you go again, bringing in the PHL crap, there are a few thousand IAM Members at US Airways and you lump them in with 22 people who acted on their own.

Do you have to keep bringing that up because you are shown to be wrong about things at US?

Like I said, when management has the God Complex, no amount of Committees or Workgroups will solve anything, they only worked under Rakesh because he actually cared about running an airline.

So since you never participated on one, nor never work for US, why don't you try to learn what actually has happened.

 

[muircross]

Bob, you seem like a nice guy and I hate to see you banging your head against the wall figuring how to fix PHL.

Take it from me the PHL bag numbers won't go down until the PHL paycheck numbers go up! And while they're at it, sick pay, vacation, double time, etc...

Parker and his greedy minions can't find enough evil bastards to change the PHL ramp; NW hired all those guys.

We hear Grantham and half-a-dozen of his boys are on their last legs.

Regards,

 

[N924PS]

Bob, you seem like a nice guy and I hate to see you banging your head against the wall figuring how to fix PHL.

Take it from me the PHL bag numbers won't go down until the PHL paycheck numbers go up! And while they're at it, sick pay, vacation, double time, etc...

Parker and his greedy minions can't find enough evil bastards to change the PHL ramp; NW hired all those guys.

We hear Grantham and half-a-dozen of his boys are on their last legs.

Regards,

As I have posted before: PHL was terrible when it was staffed by the highest paid fleet service workers in the industry. It will NEVER be good for USAirways.

NO management team will be able to solve this problem, short of TDY'ing staff from other cities at a premium price. And that may not be enough. Nor will higher pay, OT, or more vacation days solve this problem

By the time Mister Parker and company figure out it is in fact, unfixable, they will have lined their pockets sufficiently to care less.

There are more thugs than the so called "Philly 22" left below deck at PHL. You know, the one's that want time and half for doing NO work while a new hire works his booty off, and finally figures it out. It's cultural, and even racial. Bigger than DP or Grantham.

And as long as profits continue, who really cares if PHL works or not? Oh yes, THE CUSTOMERS! But they were forgotten long ago.

 

[D M G]

As I have posted before: PHL was terrible when it was staffed by the highest paid fleet service workers in the industry.

When were FSA at U the highest paid in the industry?

I agree with the rest of your post though. More pay and benefits won't mean squat to most of the rejects that are working there now. They'll be pieces of sh*t no matter where they work and at any price.

It's sad.

 

[diogenes]

In the interview this week, chief executive Parker said that the airline was paying "market rate" for labor - and that he didn't think the pay level was a reason for the baggage problems.

"It's a different world now," he said. "We're not going to have a workforce with 20 years of experience on the ramp. Indeed, we shouldn't."

PARKER YOU REALLY DON'T GET IT

AFTER THIS STATEMENT WE ALL SHOULD JUST SLOW DOWN

Mr. Parker,
Would you care to reconcile your statement with

http://www.twu555.org/index.html

Kindly scroll down to page 67, which reads a TOS ramp agent at WN makes $24 hourly, since 7/1/2001. US has a 30% advantage in ramp agent costs in PHL.

The fact is, WN has a superior business plan with superior management, not suprisingly attracting and retaining superior employees.

Given the fact aircraft, fuel, and facilities are fixed costs comparable across airlines (I'll let locking in fuel on the high end slide 😉 ), and given an unsound business plan, a second-rate management (all I've seen so far is more of the same from US East)has elected to subsidize the operation with long-term employee pay-cuts (which explains cost-neutral) rather than change the plan, or do the honorable thing (hah! - there are stock options to be plundered!) and resign.

 

[SpinDoc]

Bob, you seem like a nice guy and I hate to see you banging your head against the wall figuring how to fix PHL.

Take it from me the PHL bag numbers won't go down until the PHL paycheck numbers go up! And while they're at it, sick
pay, vacation, double time, etc...

Let me toss this out there. Is it REALLY the pay scales that are causing the problems in PHL, or is it poor hiring decisions by management, and poor work ethic by the workers along with slack oversight by the managers? I may be the exception, but I once worked for $8.65 per hour loading aircraft for PSA in PIT, and not once did I equate my wage with the amount of work I accomplished during my shift. I gave 110% regardless of the situation, as did the majority of my co-workers, because we actually had pride in our work and wanted to meet the peformance parameters that were set for us. And.... before you try to blame PHL problems on equipment and staffing issues, I can tell you that we were always short staffed and had inoperable equipment on the USE ramp in PIT, but we still handled 195 flights per day in an efficient, effective manner. Remember this if nothing else, nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to work for US Airways. There are many doors that lead to the airport exit.

 

[allstrike]

3. If equipment needs to be bought, BUY IT! TODAY! Get the MTC folks to come up with a worker driven plan to keep the stuff running.

Bob you can buy all the equipt you want,its wrecked in a week.The stuff that has been bought..tugs from tug are junk there falling apart,front ends are so bad you cant keep tires on em.you should see the scrap yard of stuff that is just torn up,hitting walls at 30 miles an hr just does wonders for the frames...awww whats the use..youd have to see to understand

 

[N924PS]

When were FSA at U the highest paid in the industry?

I agree with the rest of your post though. More pay and benefits won't mean squat to most of the rejects that are working there now. They'll be pieces of sh*t no matter where they work and at any price.

It's sad.

Perhaps it should have read "highly paid fleet service workers."

I can remember fleet service guys bragging that they were making more than the copilots, and that's when times were good for the pilots.

 

[muircross]

Spin Doc and 924PS, As a PHL ramper, I can assure you that 5 weeks vacation, double-time, getting paid for sickness and $22 Plus per hour will put a little giddy-up in most of the senior workforce. I guarantee it!

What I can't guarantee are the new-hires. Sorry.

Regards,

 

[D M G]

Spin Doc and 924PS, As a PHL ramper, I can assure you that 5 weeks vacation, double-time, getting paid for sickness and $22 Plus per hour will put a little giddy-up in most of the senior workforce. I guarantee it!

What I can't guarantee are the new-hires. Sorry.

The problem is that most of the workforce isn't too "senior" anymore. I don't have exact numbers, but there had to have been close to an 80% turnover since 9/11 which makes the majority of the shifts in PHL held by fairly junior agents or vacant.

Pay and benefit increases would be wonderful but the majority of the workforce, including quite a few senior agents, still won't give a crap.

I can remember fleet service guys bragging that they were making more than the copilots, and that's when times were good for the pilots.

The highest base pay with holidays and different premiums added in probably got up to 46-48k/year during the late 90s, but that was short lived.

With overtime you could push $100k a year, and if you were one of the lucky ones able to get in on a scam you could make $100-150K in a year.

 

[SpinDoc]

With overtime you could push $100k a year, and if you were one of the lucky ones able to get in on a scam you could make $100-150K in a year.

SpinDoc replies:
$100k/yr is good money if you have enough seniority to bid the OT and the stamina to avoid burnout. The only problem is, it's difficult to maintain a life and work 3 or 4 OT shifts per week. I did it in 1996 for about 60 days, and after seeing how much the feds took out of my check, I cut it back to 1 or 2 OT shifts per week. The tradeoff in taxes was not worth it. Now, on the other hand, working shift trades where the agent trading is paying a premium (cash/tax free) to get the time off, that could easily put another $100 to $300 per week in your pocket, or an average of $12K annually. I presume this is the scam you were referring to.

 

[IAM1776PHL]

SpinDoc replies:
$100k/yr is good money if you have enough seniority to bid the OT and the stamina to avoid burnout. The only problem is, it's difficult to maintain a life and work 3 or 4 OT shifts per week. I did it in 1996 for about 60 days, and after seeing how much the feds took out of my check, I cut it back to 1 or 2 OT shifts per week. The tradeoff in taxes was not worth it. Now, on the other hand, working shift trades where the agent trading is paying a premium (cash/tax free) to get the time off, that could easily put another $100 to $300 per week in your pocket, or an average of $12K annually. I presume this is the scam you were referring to.

IS there now O.T. available on the ramp in PHL ?