State of the airline webcast 2Quarter2007

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May 22, 2004
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2Q07 State of the Airline Webcast FAQs

· Marketing
· Operations & Facilities
· Non-union Pay, Benefits & Staffing
· Routes
· Technology & Webcast
· Comments, Miscellaneous, Etc.

Marketing
Upcoming InFlight Enhancements
Are we still looking into new in-seat inflight entertainment like JetBlue or Virgin America?
Yes, we are looking at some state-of-the-art systems and plan to start testing a product in the fall.
When will we get to a cashless cabin? Our profits are walking out the door!
We will be conducting testing with handheld devices this fall and plan on accepting inflight purchases using credit cards with handheld devices so customers aren’t limited to only using cash beginning in January. It's part of a series of product and service improvements to help us build a better airline that we're making over the next nine months. Look for details and frequent updates on our progress in AboutUS and on theHub and awaCompass.
People are accumulating miles, however, are we actually scheduling them for flights using their miles? Do you have data on the trend of accumulating miles vs. miles used?
We don't publish actual numbers (because that's information our competitors would love to have!) but the number of miles redeemed vs. earned is in line with expectations. Members continue to both accrue and redeem at a healthy rate and we anticipate issuing over 1 million frequent flyer awards this year. ATA sells a nice blow up pillow and blanket combo onboard. Wouldn't this be a nicer option than the dirty ones we have to pass out?
Can you send some specifics - fleet type, for example, route -- and we'll get to the InFlight people to fix if we can. We have a slew of customer service upgrades coming this fall...
What happened to the "enhancements" announced back in April/May about seat-back entertainment and on-demand movies etc.?
Look for a test to roll out in the late fall as part of our overall product and service enhancements that will be taking place over the next nine months.
When will we see onboard service improvements as promised? Our international product needs an overhaul badly. In December, we'll introduce improved food and wine and better amenity quality in Envoy Class and in the spring we'll launch a new “American experience†through InFlight training. Look for other product and service enhancements to come online in the next 9 months. We'll keep you updated in AboutUS and on theHub and awaCompass.
Other Marketing Topics Who thought it would be a good idea to have pink Pepto- Bismol Ads on tray tables talking about diarrhea?
These ads are being removed in August and being and will be replaced with ads from another advertiser. Not sure who that will be, but it's not Pepto-Bismol!
Why are supervisors not in uniform? One cannot recognize them for who they are when there is a
problem to be solved. It's as if they want to remain incognito. All they do is write in their notebook of events that transpire rather than prevent problems.
Managers aren't there to remain incognito. They have a lot of ground to cover helping employees help passengers and helping passengers directly, too (keep in mind that passengers go directly to an employee in uniform). But, if you are not clear as to whom you need to go to with information about a problem, or you have specific concerns about a manager, contact your station manager. Who are the "qualified" personnel making the decisions in contracting with these horrendous hotels listed with vacations? Have they ever stayed there?
US Airways Vacations offers a variety of properties for travelers of all budgets. A team of full-time product managers who specialize in various areas (i.e. Vegas, Mexico, the Caribbean) make regular visits to and frequently stay at the hotels we carry. "
As far as inflight entertainment, have you looked into inflight e-learning? Example, you're on a plane to Paris, so you get to choose a French language-learning CBT?
Cool idea! I can understand taking some first class seats out for additional revenue in coach, but why take out the coat closets? It takes away overhead room for emergency equipment and leaves no place for coats especially in the winter in the northern cities.
Coat closets are not part of the AWA standard and are not on most of our planes as a result, and instead, hooks are available to accommodate all the F coats.
When are we ordering the new uniforms?
We'll be holding fit lines in BOS / LGA / PHL / PIT / DCA / CLT / PHX / LAS starting in October. At the time of their fitting you'll order your new uniforms through a website developed by Twin Hill, our uniform supplier.

Operations & Facilities
Single Certificate

What's the date of the single operating certificate? We're on track for the last week in September. Stay tuned for announcements.
When the certificates merge in September, even without new labor contracts, will there be a lot more east flying out west and the other way around? No, the certificate doesn't really change that. Is there any truth in the rumors that we'll end up with one certificate, but continue to run two airlines? We'll have one certificate but in many cases, two labor contracts. We can operate with separate contracts, although it's not optimal and we'd prefer to get unified labor agreements so that we can move forward as one team.
Philadelphia Did Kirby say we may have to give gates back to PHL? Is that the same as the 2002 issue with 40% gates to one carrier?
He did indeed and this is a different issue than 2002. We're working with the city and other airlines in PHL to keep this from happening. The problem lies with moving carriers around specifically to the international concourse. Southwest wants more gates too and other airlines don't want to give theirs up either. Why do we continue to try and add service from the bottomless pit that is Philadelphia? ANY other hub would operationally be a better choice.
Philadelphia is not without its challenges and can be an easy target when things go south operationally. We have a team of directors dispatched to PHL to build the infrastructure for the long-term, so that our local managers can focus on the day to day. PHL will probably never be perfect, just like an airline hub, but it can be excellent.
What is the status of our new crew room in PHL? The one now is deplorable.
We know and we said we'd fix it. We plan on fixing it and when we have a timetable we'll certainly pass that along. Please discuss international plans.
We've added three new cities from PHL this year and have announced that we're planning to do more international flying out of PHL -- also, please note that we've applied for permission to fly from PHL to China. Can you help us? Go to www.usairways.com/china and sign our petition!
OCC
Can you address rumor about separate OCCs in PIT/PHX?
Not true. We'll break ground on the new OCC based in PIT in Sept. with a move-in date scheduled for sometime in 2009. Once completed, we'll move the PHX SOC to PIT and have one Operations Control
Center in Pittsburgh, although some limited functions will remain in PHX.
Express Ops
What is being done to improve the cancellation problem with the Express service? It looks bad on US with all the cancellations.
From Bob Martens: We’ve had some crew resource issues and we’ve had some maintenance issues, but much of the problem we share we share with mainline. It's exacerbated for us because we’re so heavily concentrated, more so than mainline in the East, and much of our flying is short haul, so when the area is closed, we not only can’t get out, we can’t get in because most of the cities we’re serving are inside the belt which is affected. The thing we can do to deal with that and with the other issues is to coordinate better between the nine carriers that we – that operate for us, and we’re working with David Seymour, VP, and Bob Maloney, OCC managing director, to improve our ability to coordinate between OCC, mainline and all
the carriers. At the same time we’re working on resource issues which are newer airplanes and more crew members, and obviously those things take more time, but we are acutely aware of the need to improve. Staffing for Express? Nobody wants to work at an airline that has NO FUTURE! Flying yesterday's technology straight into tomorrow! How can we be reliable if nobody wants to work here? You may have noticed in a prior FAQ that our Express team is in the very, very early preparation stages for ordering new Piedmont replacement aircraft. Express management knows that's an issue we need to deal with and are taking steps to do so.
Are there plans to merge PSA and Piedmont? Rumors are flying around that there are.
No, not at all. They are great airlines by themselves and have very different fleets.
When is our Mesa contract up? They are a horrible airline and drag our name through the mud!
Sorry that you aren't pleased with Mesa's flying for US. Mesa is a contracted Express carrier through 2012.
I've heard that many Mesa pilots are going to time out for the year (reach their 1,000 hr max) sometime in November. Are we keeping track of the hours being flown by Mesa pilots?
Mesa is a separate airline with its own dispatch and crew systems and does a good job of keeping us in the loop about their operation. We keep in pretty close tough with Mesa, and haven't heard this rumor. Poor Ops
Why are you allowing less than 1 hour connection times? 40 minutes is insane. Anything under 2 hours for inbound International is insane. We don't have the seats to rebook these misconnects.
You're absolutely right about reaccommodating passengers, or the lack thereof. High load factors, not only on US but OALs, have the industry in a place it's never found itself before.
A 25-minimum connect time in PHX is nuts. Customers are misconnecting to the 1900 Mesa bank every night, since Mesa closes 10 mins early.
From Andrew Nocella: We continuously monitor minimum connect times at all of our hubs and we'll examine the issue you raise here to see if it warrants further analysis.
How long do you think this airline will be around the way it's running right now?
We'll get it fixed. Look at June numbers and July, we're doing just as well as anyone else, which isn't great but we'll get back on track.
Speaking of the outside consultants - when can we expect to see their recommendations put into place? We expect to have some of their recommendations back over the next month or so...we'll communicate the findings of the consultants.
We continue to hear the company is working on our poor customer service and yet nothing is being done. It no longer makes sense to defend this company when it appears Tempe doesn't care. Tempe does care. We've added more than 1,000 employees at airports, are hard at work on the QIK/SABRE issues, have dispatched upper-level management to help sort through Philadelphia, have freed up airplane spares and are stretching out the day's schedule to help get the operation back on track. The progress we're making is slow, but steady, since March.
Will the focus on customer service include internal customers (non-revs)? Co-workers, family members, and friends have all expressed issues with treatment while traveling space available.
Absolutely and thanks for pointing this out. Non-revenue customers are also customers and should be treated as such. Conversely, non-revs should be courteous and help our airport agents and flight crews focus on revenue customers first.
How can you say we are doing just as well as anyone else? We are dead last and well below other airlines. The June DOT numbers show that the whole industry is just struggling this summer (the industry's worst on-time performance in more than a decade). Our numbers aren't great by any stretch of the imagination, but the good news is that we're making slow but steady improvement, and getting closer to where the rest of the industry is currently performing. We know we can do better. What sort of attention is being paid to improve the dispatch reliability within the European operation? We seem to be having lots of problems with the 75's and 76's.
Maintenance has taken steps to get more access to these airplanes when they arrive in PHL.
General Ops
Where did this idea of allowing DL Flight Attendants to jumpseat (in a cabin seat) come from? I didn't think they liked us too much after the merger deal that didn't happen.
This is something that several airlines have with each other, it helps with commuting. Like us, I think they've moved on. What is the future for PIT overhaul operations?
The plan is to keep it as it is today for the foreseeable future
I don't think population is the only factor in determining O & D (Origin and Destination, or local
traffic), in other words... - is it?
No, but it's a big factor. If you don't have a large population base to pull from then you get less O&D. that's why PHL is such a good hub in terms of revenue. CLT is a growing and booming city with two very large banks based there which help business. The local economy plays a big role as well. Why not fly all the O&D traffic out of PHL, but fly all the connecting Express traffic though the great PIT hub, thus reducing the traffic overload in PHL?
That's a great idea in theory, but probably not so much in practice. Think of a hub and spoke operation like a tightly interwoven tapestry. Removing several threads on one end will inevitably throw off the weave at the other. There's more complexity to it than that, but putting more Express flying in PIT would take away feed from transcon and international flying at PHL. Concerning the taxed ATC system, we're working with the ATA and our folks on Capitol Hill to ensure that a new ATC system is probably funded and built soon. You can help, too, by going to www.smartskies.org and sending an e-letter to Congress.
Is there any truth to the rumor that the Cactus call sign is being eliminated?
Nothing's been announced, no.
Non-union Pay, Benefits, Staffing
A&B When do they draw names for the other A&B winners and when will the names be posted?
They were drawn at the meeting and winners are posted on Compass and theHub.
Is David Mclellan (a $10k A&B winner) related to Jeff?
No, he isn't. Name is spelled differently, too.
Non-Union Pay
How can people complain about the pay they receive for a job they asked for?
Good question.
When will non-union employee wages be looked at and discrepancies between East and West resolved?
What about East non-union employees having a different retirement package than West?
The company is currently reviewing many plan design features that can be offered to all non contract employees. One of the main features currently being reviewed is the company 3% company contribution deposited to the US Airways, Inc. Employee Pension Plan (east non-contract) as opposed to the company match (maximum 3%) deposited to Future Care: The America West 401(k) Savings Plan (west noncontract).
The company plans to have a uniform company contribution benefit in place for 1/1/08 for both
East and West non-contract employees.
Will employees be receiving yearly increases this year?
Performance reviews begin in just a few weeks and merit pay increase discussions will be this fall. When looking at the Careers section, the pay is listed at Grade 106 for example. Where would we be able to find out what pay range that is?
Speak with the recruiter for the position. The recruiter will be able to provide guidance regarding specific transfer/promotional opportunities Why does the company set a limit to pay increasing in grade? If one came from the outside the pay would automatically be higher. It almost makes the employee not want to stay knowing there is a limit to
their salary. Will there also be an effort to align the west employees in the same position and years in service with east counterparts?
Are you a non-union employee? Some of these pay scales are negotiated into contracts; otherwise, pay scales are usually established in most companies based on skill levels and responsibilities. It doesn't mean you can't go beyond what you're currently making by promoting into a new or higher responsibility job, though. There is no current plan to systematically review perceived discrepancies between legacy East and West salaries.
When the company was in trouble the employees had to make major sacrifices. Now we are making money. Isn't it time to give back and get this airline back on track? It starts with happy employees which will in turn help the stock holders.
We hear you- and we are giving back in the form of our Profit Sharing program. Although pay levels will probably never go back to the way they were due to the airline's cost structure, we do recognize the sacrifices employees made, and hope that with profit sharing, Hat Trick payouts, and other employee incentives, we can boost the morale and showcase a stellar operation at the same time.
Morale - if you haven't heard, it's at an all time low. Would you consider leveling the pay between east and west to offer some comfort, including non-union employees?
We know morale isn't where it should be- and we know that you’re tired of apologizing for the operation, we are too! And to the extent that pay can boost morale, we have acknowledged that we would move to the higher of the two contracts (be it east or west) in the contracts we are negotiating (and we did that for the contracts that are complete too!). Regarding non-union employees, we have leveled the pay scales and we have implemented the employee incentive program (Hat Trick) as well as profit sharing. Salaries are also up for review during the performance review period, so there are possibilities that you are in control of to
better your pay- i.e. promotions or taking on more responsibilities.
Staffing
Have all corporate (non-union) employees been "merged" or is there still a possibility for layoffs?
The only groups not completely merged are:
1) SOC / OCC which will see it's first step towards combining at certificate merger but the final step will be at center consolidation.
2) Crew Resources still continues to operate with 4 contracts on 2 different systems. The merging process for them will occur once we get to combined contract which is TBD.
In both groups, some re-alignment of the workforces could occur.
How many people are going to lose their jobs in PHX? It seems like several maintenance management folks are gone…
VP Tech Ops Rick Oehme said we are hiring mechanics and have no plans of reducing anyone.
What is the plan to deal with the crew staffing issues we are facing at the wholly owned express carriers?
PSA has increased its recruiting and training resources over the last two months and has adequate crews to meet its schedule. If you are a Piedmont employee, we recommend that you send a question to "Ask Piedmont" on your employee intranet site. The questions are answered every Sunday, and this question has been addressed before.
Flight Benefits
Are there any plans to reconsider the non-revenue boarding priority? How fair is seniority when the average East employee has more seniority than America West was in existence? Why not even the playing field and make it first come, first served?
We examined this question very seriously in the months leading up to the announcement. There was no decision that would have been considered "fair" for everyone, but given the large number of pre-merger US Airways employees, particularly the large number who ended up as commuters after rounds of layoffs, this combination of seniority and check-in time seemed to be the most appropriate way to go. We will not be reconsidering it.

ROUTES
Domestic
There are currently no direct East Coast flights from El Paso, Texas by any airline. With the Ft. Bliss expanding in size, why can't we capitalize on this with a mainline flight to CLT?
CLT-ELP is a potential opportunity but, it is a long, thin market that may be suitable on the E190 aircraft.
However, we’re already aircraft constrained, and there are better opportunities to deploy the new E190s in our existing markets.
Why not bring mainline flights back to DAY? Flights here are always full and most pax are
businessmen. We are experiencing high loads in DAY right now. However, it is the summer and we are experiencing high loads throughout the entire network. During the winter, our loads are noticeably lower. While we would like more large aircraft for the peak seasons in many of our markets, we need to balance that need with the off-peak demand. In general, the smaller aircraft allow US to offer a better schedule (higher frequency) and more non-stop destinations than we otherwise would from DAY, characteristics highly desired by many business travelers. Additionally, DAY is the home to PSA. Therefore, we need to maintain service to get crews in and out of the network as well as rotate aircraft into the maintenance facility.
Can we please consider adding more flights to PIT? I know we've drastically cut service there, but there's no shame in coming back. We need PIT!!
The problem with PIT is that we just don't have the Origin and Destination (O&D) traffic that used to be the norm in Pittsburgh. Our competitors are having some of the same issues – JetBlue is cutting back as well. We agree – it's a great airport with great employees. Our other hubs (CLT, PHL, PHX) have larger
O&D traffic.
Any plans to add flights between current west cities (like OAK, SJC, SNA, etc.) to any of the east hubs like CLT or PHL? What about plans to add PHX/LAS service to EAST out stations? Or PHL/CLT service to WEST outstations? No plans yet, but we’re evaluating adding another West Coast city to either PHL or CLT - similar to the PDX flights added last year to PHL, and this summer to CLT. We’re also always evaluating new East markets from our West hubs, but it is too early to provide specific route decisions for summer 2008. What's the latest on LAS? Will day flights really help? It seems that night flights are great for pax and freight!
Yes, there is a strong passenger preference for day flights to LAS, and we have adjusted our fall LAS schedule to better align US capacity with demand.
How much O&D does CLT have? It's a good HUB, but I do not believe it has a very large O&D.
Actually (and perhaps surprisingly) it has a good draw from the mid-Atlantic region.
Why are we cutting back service to Hawaii after Aug. 19?
Seasonal pulldown.
Southwest recently announced they were cutting one of their 2x daily PVD-PHX flights. Wouldn't this be a good time to fill the gap? PHX is a hub after all.
We're always looking at routes to add/subtract and will fly to markets that make the most economic sense for our company and our shareholders. Why are you taking mainline trips out the backdoor and giving them to commuter airlines? It is killing
our mainline business. Our fleet of mainline and express aircraft has been relatively stable recently. Profitability has improved as we moved many flights over the years that could not support mainline service onto regional jets. However, times change and the era of 50-seat regional jets will slowly diminish over the next 5 to 8 years.
International
Are we still planning PHL-Shanghai or have we switched focus to the PHL-Beijing route now?
We've switched to Beijing...we'll have codeshare agreements with Air China and Shanghai Airlines for service beyond Beijing, but we think the opportunity is in Beijing. Have you signed our petition to the DOT? www.usairways.com/china. Thanks!
UA employees say that UA has already been awarded Beijing from IAD. Does this affect PHL?
Our position is that it shouldn't -- PHL doesn't have China service at the moment, it's one of the biggest metro areas in the country without it, and we think it will draw customers who have to go by car or connection to New York or Washington now.
Are there any plans to bring back flights to Nagoya, Japan or NRT?
Ultimately, we'd love to have an expanded presence to Asia which is why we're starting with service to China. Please help by signing our e-petition to DOT at www.usairways.com/china!
Any truth to the rumor that we are considering using the A340 to fly PHX to Tel Aviv?
Israel is on the horizon for us, but out of PHL, not PHX.
What international cities are we planning to fly to in the next few years?
We're looking at Moscow, Istanbul, Heathrow, Tel Aviv and Birmingham in the UK.
Berlin and Reykjavik would be great places to add for future European flight.
Berlin is a good opportunity within the next five years, one that we will continue to look at. We have thought about Reykjavik but have no plans for now. Our Latin America presence is nonexistent compared to other carriers. If international growth is now
the focus, why don't we look into Latin American growth as well? PHX should have enough O/D traffic to support flights into many Latin America cities. Have we considered re-deploying widebodies to South America during the winter high season for Brazil, Argentina and Chile?
More Latin America flights are being considered in the future but no changes are imminent. Given the location and demographics of our hubs, Latin American will not be a large focus of US Airways. Beyond that, AA seems to have Latin America/South America sewn up. We'd like to focus on other international service like those discussed in previous questions.
What’s up with SJU? Well traveled, but not enough service.
SJU is an average market for US Airways.
Any plans to increase international flying out of CLT?
We're focused on PHL at the moment (although you may have noticed that our China application starts with a B767 continuing on through PHL to China). Why don't we have more international out of PHX?
PHX to Mexico beach does very well. We currently are very limited in terms of aircraft that could
provide longer- haul International Routes from PHX. Additionally, PHX market size to many of these international destinations is much smaller versus other major cities. Furthermore, our PHL/CLT hubs are much larger than our PHX hub, offering many more connecting markets to help route be successful.
Technology and Webcast
Systems Is the company aware how bad the SCEPTRE system is? The FAA is. Maintenance wants MERLIN back.
VP Tech Ops Rick Oehme said during the webcast, “The former U.S. Airways, they’re our aircraft
maintenance and engineering IT system was called Merlin. On the America West side it was Sceptre. Through the integration process, we decided that Sceptre was the better choice just because financially we owned Sceptre, and Merlin cost, you know, several million dollars a year to maintain. Going into it, the functionality of Sceptre and Merlin basically the same, although if you were a former U.S. Airways guy who worked in Merlin you wouldn’t agree with that because you’ve worked a certain system for, you know, 15, 20 years, you get very good at using it, very comfortable using it. We’ve recently converted our 75, 76s and A330s from Merlin to Sceptre, and all of our processes are built around these systems, so we now have converted the fleet into Sceptre and we’re struggling. We’re struggling because we didn’t train
our people to the level we in retrospect should have. Our parts material chain isn’t working the way it should. Our planning isn’t working the way it should, but everyone needs to know that this is a small bump in the road that will get fixed.
“Right now we’ve got a team of folks in Philadelphia that we’ve got maintenance folks, planning folks, engineers, material folks that are working through the process issues that are, I don’t want to say broken, but can be refined better to make us run smoother, but at the end of the day, it’s something that we will absolutely get through. If you were to talk to the average West mechanic who deals with Sceptre every day, it’s a system that he’s completely comfortable with, one that he’s familiar with, and we’ve been able to operate every day reliably with the system. The concern, obviously, it’s a new system for the folks on the
east, and we they – we are struggling, and in all fairness, we’ve got in Philadelphia 270 mechanics out there every day working hard to make it work. We, as management, just need to make sure we give them the tools to be successful, so that’s kind of where we are.â€
When will the West going live with DECS? This will be part of the single certificate on Sept. 24/25.
What are the annual cost savings for Shares vs Sabre? Sceptre vs Merlin? Maybe if we knew how much we were saving, it would make the 'pill' easier to swallow... The overall cost saving for the entire IT integration is over $100M. Why doesn't the company invest more in technology? I noticed that a lot of people are using dinosaur
equipment and it REALLY affects productivity. The GITP project upgraded or replaced nearly 10,000 computers and other equipment all over the US Airways system last year. More upgrades are constantly being done. If you know of equipment that is in need of upgrading or replacing you should make sure your supervisor is aware.
What’s the feeling on SHARES lately?
It probably depends on who you ask, but we're pleased to report that we are seeing regular progress, with fixes to problems/glitches and enhancements on a weekly basis. The best place for updates on SHARES, by the way, in Migration Relief, which is distributed weekly by the Customer Service group and is posted on awaCompass and theHub. When are we going to migrate to a better version of the reservation system software? It's obvious you
don't want to go with Sabre but the current software did fine for a regional operation but not for an international system. There is a concentrated effort to address the operational issues as they relate to the Reservation system and
QIK. EDS is actively working on a list of changes US has provided to improve the functionality to better match the East’s operation and we are working with ACS to modify the QIK system to help bridge the gap until we have changed Shares, for example, improved standby list appearance. In addition, we are less than 8 weeks from a significant upgrade to Shares availability which significantly helps both the Reservations and Airport areas, particularly with International destinations.
When are we going to get a real ticket scanning system at the boarding gate just like the other airlines? Gate Readers are deployed in many US Airways locations. A project will be forthcoming to place Gate Readers at gates in some former America West locations. Feedback from gate agents has been very positive on the gate reader device.
We're still seeing lost revenue from out of sync E-tickets. Also, the reissue process is still quite
cumbersome and TIPS works when it feels like it...are you concerned with the amount of revenue we are losing?
The majority of the e-tickets out of sync have been self-induced – meaning as personnel modify the PNR, they often leave the PNR out of sync. We are discussing a recurrent training program for PNR management. Additionally, there are projects open with EDS to keep more tickets in sync on the day of departure and also to provide additional adjust entries for PNRs with 3-4 segments needing adjustments (adjustments keep the PNR in sync). We continue to monitor the TIPS product. We need better communication at the PHX hub. Compass is never updated. Also 2 years ago we were told we would be able to access Workbrain from home that summer. When will this be available? We actually update awaCompass everyday, but if you know of specific information that needs to be updates, please email us at [email protected]. Workbrain access from home was planned premerger
and dependant on the Wings Portal. At the time of the merger it was placed on the back burner and is still there. It can be re-addressed once the new Wings portal is deployed and we have the resources.
Webcast
Who is answering these questions?
Andrea Rader and Phil Gee from Corp Comm
My webcast says connecting. How long will it take?
Hmmm....it's ongoing now. Have you tried another player?
Are we supposed to see Doug talk or just hear him?
Just hear him. Can you stop the q and a area from blinking every 30 seconds?
We have asked our vendor Shareholder.com to change how this works and to allow the auto-refresh to be disabled by the viewer. Hopefully a change will be implemented for next time.
The online presentation of the state of the airline is good, but the question section is really bad. It autorefreshes,
which is good, but when it does this, it shoots the user back to the top of the question section.
It also doesn't have a very big viewable area in the question section. Can you pass this along and maybe it will be fixed by next quarter? It is quite annoying.
We're working with our vendor to see if we can present an option to turn off auto-refresh. We hope to have an update by the next State of the Airline presentation.
Comments, Miscellaneous, Etc.
What do you see as our biggest challenge for the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2007?
Bringing our operation up to par is the major challenge we face, all while completing the integration of our operating certificate and continuing contract negotiations. But, we're making headway in every one of those areas and, while we may see bumps in the road, we have high expectations for ourselves and we intend to live up to a higher standard - and as a single carrier.
Are we going to purchase an aircraft carrier and moor it in the river so we can increase the runway capacity at PHL?
That's not a bad idea! Thanks.
What about the rumor that US & AW are contemplating splitting back up because the finalization of the merger is taking so long?
That's just a rumor. We're one airline from now on. Also, for what it's worth, we knew that the integration would take at least this long, so this timeline is what we expected.
Elise, since you have sat in fielding questions at the crew news sessions, is your bio available on
compass?
Elise's bio - as well as bios of all officers - is posted on www.usairways.com.
Does Doug love the west and east employees equally?
Of course, he loves everybody equally.
CS employee morale is down station-wide; east vs. west, etc. Is there a plan in place to address this?
Did you hear Doug's answer?
Just want to say - This is a great place to work. We have challenges but wouldn't want to be anywhere
else.
Thanks! Great to hear.
In the past (on the East side) former management recognized that the front line employees had some of the best (real time) insight to problems. This led to the creation of Labor-Management Task forces... in most cases these were a great success. Does current management oppose engaging with our employees in a similar process to help us fix our own house (without the need to hire outside consultants)?
Current management absolutely agrees that frontline employees have the most valuable insights into the workings (and NON-workings) of the operation. For that reason, a big part of the consultants work involves talking with the employees to help solve some of our operational troubles. So, bringing on consultants isn't about removing management-to-employee communication and productivity. It's simply a way to enlist the help of third-party experts who've helped a number of airlines make dramatic improvements over the years.
Is there any truth to the rumor that corporate communications is going to be gutted and just turned into a web page because they give no useful information?
Nope, no truth to that nasty rumor, although the folks in Corp Comm are always willing to listen to constructive comments. Is there something you'd like to see more or less of? Something we're missing?
Email us anytime at [email protected].
Is Doug going to visit anyEast outstations? I would like to speak with him. And most of the other
workers here, seem to not have faith in him (I do.), I think he needs to sit down and have a pow wow with these disgruntled employees, because that’s who is ruining our airline.
Doug (and Scott and other VPs) regularly visit East Coast hubs, but if there's a specific station that you believe needs attention, we'll do our best to get management representation there, talking to employees.
How about some due props to ELP for winning the Pride Cup 4 times in a row!
Impressive! We recognized ELP in AboutUS last week, but there's always room for another HOORAY!
When you hire a consultant, is there a standard contract somewhere?
There are contracts -- but not necessarily one standard contract for all consultants.
The person that suggested the e-learning for inflight, deserves an A & B for such a constructive,
innovative idea!
He/she should send his/her employee number to [email protected] and we'll nominate him/her!
We need to stop east vs. west etc. I am east that came out west to work, and I really do not see any differences on either side. Majority of us are all working together. We just need to move on and take care of our customers and each other!!
You may have heard Doug mention that he couldn't agree more.
What does Doug have to say about morale?
Bottom line is that morale problems are probably more indicative of our difficulty with the operation...and once we make more progress fixing the operation, we think people will feel better about working here again. Folks today are not proud of dirty airplanes, confusing reservations systems, etc.
As a West captain, I am very optimistic about the future of US Airways and I am confident that cooler heads will prevail regarding seniority integration issues.
Thanks!
What is Doug Parker's e-mail address? And does he answer any of his e-mails personally?
Doug's email address is [email protected]. He does personally answer many of his emails -
others he forwards to members of his team if it applies to a specific area, like customer service or maintenance.
We from the west have a feeling that some east employees are angry because they still have jobs. We need to ask everybody from the East if they are IN to make this airline work or they are OUT. It is better
to have motivated work force than a negative one.
See the other posting on we have to get rid of this East v. West thing (which Doug also mentioned). We're
ne company now...we need to stop bashing the other coast!
Why not join a credit union like Wings FCU and dump Continental, who could not care less about US? Wings said they would love to talk to US management.
We'll pass this suggestion to our benefits department.
Comment---excellent exchange and update! US is a great place to work and we will get better, again.
Thanks - we'll keep doing our part to improve communication!


only stating opinions
 
Oh, now it is December for inflight enhancements. I guess in December it will be March and the cycle of lies and deceit continue....Everyone talks about how pretty Sherri's hair is--how can you see it since her head is stuck so far up her own butt.
 
It's like the New Order album of the same name:

"Power, Corruption and Lies"

Nothing but an ad for cheerleaders to help get the airline China Service and Head-in-the-Sand B.S.

Corporate lying. All of it.