PHL still needs more

[bigbusboy]

757's to Europe isn't all that bad. Until recently I've avoided working the beast over the pond. But I've started working it to LGW. It's a real pig if you're full....bathrooms overflow and smell, run out of supplies, pax feel crampted, etc. But just keep telling yourself this is a new and improved 707...that's it. Prior to widebodies, the late and great Pan Am and TWA used to fly 707s around the world for 10-12 hours at a time. Yes I know coach back then was 2-3 seating with leg room.

 

[N965VJ]

This article got buried in another thread yesterday, but it bears repeating.

Tempe just figured out the concept of an operation that has multiple time zones?

<SNIP> Douglas Parker, US Airways' chief executive officer, added that the airline realized after running a poor operation last year that it needed a satellite headquarters, with senior managers based in Philadelphia "who don't need to wait for Phoenix to wake up" before making decisions.

Tom Belden, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer, 2-29-2008 link

 

[perserverance]

Ever since the increase of middle management there has been nothing
but trouble among the employees, at least from my perspective, here in Phl. Phl currently has over 150 shift managers (not including upper mag.). If the number in that article is correct that equates to 1 manager for every 42 workers. Thats' ridiculous. They basically replaced a former fleet job,''chief'', with a company manager. The communication flow and work ethic along with pay cuts and the companys' failure to recognize the value of thier employees has and will continue to effect the work ethic out of Phl.

So Tempe can send as many managers as they like it will still not fix the problem.
The International Operation is destined to fail this upcoming summer, through no fault of the workforce. US has scheduled over 20 arrivals into the Intl' terminal all within 3 hours of each other, basically from 1400 to 1700. The system as it sits now will fall apart if there are over 2,500 connections within that time frame and thats' looking to double at least. There are currently 10 arrivals in that time frame and we are squeaking by at best.

US could recognize that the hiring pool is terrible because of the benifit and salary
structure. When I was hired I had to know someone and that has changed. If they were to increase in just those areas they would generate a better worker , simply by appealing to the motivated applicant instead of , ''show up your hired'' method. I can not over state, you get what you PAY for.

''Dog'', to suggest we take less from Phl reminds me of another quip, ''bite your nose to spite your face''. Phl makes money, bottom line and could make significantly more if the company supplied the workforce with the tools to do so, including a better employee based on the contract. The current new hires, dating back to post 9-11 is sad. For every 10 employees hired, I'd say 1 or 2 are worth keeping and they leave because a better offer awaits from somewhere else. Parker said he didn't think the airline was a long term job but better suited for a college kid looking for the appeal of non-rev travel to keep an airline going well we see where that thinking has taken us. For the most part Phl runs off the senior workers and even the 150 shift managers see this and even now the senior workers are seeking new directions. The company needs to stop this and offer to bring dignity back to the worker through a better contract.

Thanks
(edited by mod for easier reading- spacing)

 

[galley princess]

Absolutely. I was talking to a ramper who really wanted to do his job well, but the people who work under him can vary from one day to the next because they steal, don't show up and get fired.

Raise the salaries and you'll get quality people. Treat people well and good people will stay.

This is not rocket science.

Piling more managers on will only help if they're hauling bags and pushing out airplanes. Otherwise they're just an annoyance.

 

[elixir]

lets see...how many high-schoolers' do you see busting their a$$ at SWA?...uh, NONE.

Know why? because they are compensated and valued for the role that they play in the B-I-G P-I-C-T-U-R-E...what we have now is college grads sitting at the controls with the brakes on at an open gate, waiting for the REQUIRED marshaller who isn't compensated for the value and importance they bring to the puzzle....and Tempe wants to hire high school dropouts to handle this?

The least amount of "investigative interviewing" is being done for the lowest paid employees who will bring the operation to a grinding halt.

brilliant, sounds like something that jacka$$ Ornstein would pull.

SWA and others have figured it out. ATTRACT the very best and loyal you can get with $$ and schedules/benefits....then our new COO will have the airline he wants...

Not until.

Last week in DCA, I had a plane with no APU..on jetway cord...3 THREE times, the guys wanted to pull the cord...nobody looks at the screen they have which clearly says NO APU...thank God I opened my window every time I saw them reaching for the cord to pull it.

I wasn't so lucky in CLT the week before...killed my plane WITHOUT SEEKING MY APPROVAL to remove power...

yep, left about 30 late on that one....takes awhile to reprogram the ENTIRE PLANE in the dark with the emergency lights on...

I rest my case.

 

[Dog Wonder]

Great suggestion! Cut back on US's biggest money maker and presence in the fourth largest city in the United States!

Management has shown no evidence of ability to manage PHL at the current size of its operation.

 

[wings396]

Absolutely. I was talking to a ramper who really wanted to do his job well, but the people who work under him can vary from one day to the next because they steal, don't show up and get fired.

Raise the salaries and you'll get quality people. Treat people well and good people will stay.

This is not rocket science.

Piling more managers on will only help if they're hauling bags and pushing out airplanes. Otherwise they're just an annoyance.

Please keep in mind, that there are hundreds of furloughed ramp people who may come back to work if the terms were right. The Company continues to hang on to the 60 day rule that is keeping many good qualified people on the outside. Instead they prefer to keep the "Revolving Door" of new hires up and running. Hire 'Em cheap = Hard to keep.....
The cost of constantly hiring and training new people must far exceed that of paying out a better wage to those who actually want to work.

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> The cost of constantly hiring and training new people must far exceed that of paying out a better wage to those who actually want to work.

Kind of like the revolving door of Kettles that Tempe is hoping for.

Churn ‘em and burn ‘em!

 

[signals]

From all the various posts on the topic, I strongly doubt that these executives are coming to play the usual game. The one where they can't handle or improve the situation, that is. It is obvious that even if Tempe were sending top-brass from China, they are coming to improve the current situation...by any means!

Corporations tend to learn from past mistakes and seldom repeat them. Their moves are like a chess game. They anticipate and expect the unexpected. They do what it takes to reach their goals, including sacrificing pawns.

They know and expect resistance from employees and may tolerate it at first. After that, let the chips fall where they will.

 

[wings396]

I know people in PHL, and CLT that have told me first hand about the quality of the new hires they are getting. Very few, if any care about anything since they can leave and go to Walmart for the same wage, and easier work as well. Most don't stay very long, and while they are there they don't show up for flights and so on. I have even heard of one that got O/B a flight while they were on the clock, and resigned once they reached their destination. As long as this company prefers to go this route with the quality of people they hire, nothing is going to improve the situation in PHL, or anywhere else. Take the salaries that you are going to pay more Managers, and invest it into a higher quality workforce. I have heard the argument before that paying out better wages won't bring better people, but I disagree. If you have a job that pays well, you will be much more concerned about losing it as opposed to a low wage job that you can find again if the Airline gets rid of you.

 

[signals]

Please keep in mind, that there are hundreds of furloughed ramp people who may come back to work if the terms were right. The Company continues to hang on to the 60 day rule that is keeping many good qualified people on the outside. Instead they prefer to keep the "Revolving Door" of new hires up and running. Hire 'Em cheap = Hard to keep.....
The cost of constantly hiring and training new people must far exceed that of paying out a better wage to those who actually want to work.

Corporations are notorious for spending millions to save a buck. Their thinking is that it will profit the future and any loss is a tax write-off. If you spend years with a company, you actually see that this type of streamlining really works.

Another thing is that a quicker turn of employees saves the company big bucks, because their reasoning is that newer employees are 'less' familiar with the system and are less likely to get away with murder. Examples:Management wants more productivity and a lazy employee knows how to pass the buck. Theft of services and products that aren't bolted down, won't develop legs and disappear as often. Insurance and benefits cost the company less, because new employees pay more and get less. Airport security increases by turning-over employees that have access to sensitive areas.

So yes, they will continue to hire new employees and training them at an alarming rate as the turnover picks up steam. Most of us have known that we can be easily replaced by thousands waiting for our jobs. In my union it started when we gave things up for the NEW hires and felt that we were immune from it happening to us. Don't know why it would be happening to the airline industry :huh:

 

[Dog Wonder]

Another thing is that a quicker turn of employees saves the company big bucks, because their reasoning is that newer employees are 'less' familiar with the system and are less likely to get away with murder. Examples:Management wants more productivity and a lazy employee knows how to pass the buck. Theft of services and products that aren't bolted down, won't develop legs and disappear as often. Insurance and benefits cost the company less, because new employees pay more and get less. Airport security increases by turning-over employees that have access to sensitive areas.

Sounds like a Frank Lorenzo theory on disposable employees.

 

[signals]

Sounds like a Frank Lorenzo theory on disposable employees.

I wasn't implying that...since I just learned about Frank Lorenzo...but perhaps, and this is just my stupid opinion, US should try not to become the next Eastern.

If this is a FL theory, then it is a practice that is used universally at this point by companies, corporations, and anyplace that business is conducted.

Changing topics...did you ever hear the real downfall of Eastern? After being bombarded by misinformation as to what happened(I even heard it went out after it was found that employees were using wheelwells to distribute drugs), then I researched and learned! The bottom line is that what Lorenzo is accused of doing with labor, has come to fruition in a deeper way. Again blame low-cost airlines. He wanted deep cuts in benefits, which led to strikes, which led to cancelled flights, which led to lost revenue, which led to bankruptcy.

Welcome to the future and how is it going in the airline industry? Y'all learned from Eastern's mistakes, right? Nobody is getting cuts in benefits or in pay, are they? Everybody is thinking happy thoughts, huh?

PS The link to the site is pure gold.

 

[orioleman]

hey perv,
Trivia question for you . In your 20 plus years in PHL can you tell the good folks on here how many say station managers and ops managers PHL

has chewed up and spit out...... My guess would be in the high teens .. inquiring minds would like to know

 

[orioleman]

signals,
"Y'all learned "

hey you got my signals crossed shouldn't that be yuns 😀

anyway thanks for link really good