TEMPE WAKE UP!

[PHLfa88]

I just worked DUB-PHL yesterday and I was forworned about this flt going out over 2hrs late for the last week because the agents WILL NOT comence boarding until they have enough volunteers. This has to be THE Dumbes excuse! I was CSD yesterday and informed the agent (After we were towed from a gate with a jetway to Remote)that we NEED to board at the proper time and if you do not have enough volunteers after everyone has boarded then you leave the over sale pax's with no seat! I know some of you are going to comment that it is NOT fair to leave pax's that purchased a ticket at the gate, your right, however you look at it this flight should Not be over sold at all, people in Europe Do Not give a Rats A@@ about getting a free ticket like americans do, they bought a ticket for a certian day and they expect to get to where they want to go!! Now, thank god we were not over sold but by 6 seats ( unlike the flt the day before-22 seats)we shut the door with 1 open only 10mins late, but guess what...one of the volunteers bag was on the plane so they had to find it and take it off...1 HOUR and 50 MINUTES LATER!!! so we were STILL 2hrs LATE!! What The F--K!!
The Moral is? STOP OVER SELLING EUROPE FLTS!!!!

 

[AstroLounge]

The OVERSELLING of seats is all part of the "You'll LOVE US" campaign! Just didn't realize the Circus has crossed the ocean so soon.

 

[Travelpro72]

Doing international previously when there was a division to now I say...."NO THANKS". I would be totally embarrased to fly someone across the atlantic in one of our ratty 757's that smell like P!SS and look their age. With the overbookings, service and quality it's NOTHING i'd wanna touch. It's bad all over but you were able to hide out on int'l for a while. It's a joke now as well. WOW all I can say is WOW.

 

[MarkMyWords]

PHLfa88 -

I'd like to address a few things about your situation. First and foremost - Overbooking is a necessity. Without overbooking flights - to ensure they go out full - we would have lost money in 2006 (and that is after paying out DBC). Overbooking is not an exact science, but the analyst does have a lot of historical data to help try and maximize revenue without actually taking oversales. It is a hard thing to do and is not an exact science. Believe it or not, 2006 was one of the best years that we had since 2000 - with the least number of DB's - meaning we are trending in the right direction.

On to DUB.....from the limited details, it sounds like DUB is not following company procedures for dealign with oversold international flights. Volunteers should be solicited at the time of check-in. Any customer that volunteers should have a special tag placed on their bag - so it is not loaded until they are actually on the aircraft. Any customer who checks in and does not have a seat assignment should also have a similar tag placed on their bag - same reasoning - if they don't board (read involuntarily denied boarding) then their bags will also not be loaded. Same goes for non-revs.

Had the station followed procedures, there should have been little or no delay. Volunteer comes off, bags never get on, flt departs. The only time you should be taking a delay like that is if a customer elects not to board - then the bag has to be found and removed.

We've always overbooked international flights - this is nothing new. Your example proves that overbooking is necessary. Flight is oversold by 6, 5 people no-show, 1 denied boarding. In my opinion the analyst got that one pretty much on the money. A flight leaves with an open seat due to a no show and it is a revenue opportunity lost. Overbooking contributes heavily to the profitability of the company. How we handle those situations is something completely different.

 

[LGA777]

Since European stations are made up mostly of employees of a handling company sounds like DUB might need either a new Stn Mgr or a different handling company to work our flights or both. Would like to hear more from crews that have worked these flights or others who may have flown out of DUB this season.

Regards

LGA777

 

[Boeing Boeing GONE]

I work in Europe and both the u.s agents and the contractors know the procedure for getting vols and do so every time, seems maybe DUB did not do it right this time, but dont assume just because certain staff are not employed directly that they do not know how to do there job, they do it much better than the grumps in PHL.

 

[phillyphlyer]

PHLfa88 -

I'd like to address a few things about your situation. First and foremost - Overbooking is a necessity. Without overbooking flights - to ensure they go out full - we would have lost money in 2006 (and that is after paying out DBC). Overbooking is not an exact science, but the analyst does have a lot of historical data to help try and maximize revenue without actually taking oversales. It is a hard thing to do and is not an exact science. Believe it or not, 2006 was one of the best years that we had since 2000 - with the least number of DB's - meaning we are trending in the right direction.

On to DUB.....from the limited details, it sounds like DUB is not following company procedures for dealign with oversold international flights. Volunteers should be solicited at the time of check-in. Any customer that volunteers should have a special tag placed on their bag - so it is not loaded until they are actually on the aircraft. Any customer who checks in and does not have a seat assignment should also have a similar tag placed on their bag - same reasoning - if they don't board (read involuntarily denied boarding) then their bags will also not be loaded. Same goes for non-revs.

Had the station followed procedures, there should have been little or no delay. Volunteer comes off, bags never get on, flt departs. The only time you should be taking a delay like that is if a customer elects not to board - then the bag has to be found and removed.

We've always overbooked international flights - this is nothing new. Your example proves that overbooking is necessary. Flight is oversold by 6, 5 people no-show, 1 denied boarding. In my opinion the analyst got that one pretty much on the money. A flight leaves with an open seat due to a no show and it is a revenue opportunity lost. Overbooking contributes heavily to the profitability of the company. How we handle those situations is something completely different.

I agree overbooking is necessary but.....it is NOT necessary to overbook by 20.....that is just insane and impossible for agts..they have been overbooking FCO and CDG and just about every flt by 20 for the last month...there is no way you are going to get that many vol or no-shows...this is a thorn in the side of all us transatlantic agts here in PHL...if you need to overbook the max should be 10 period....and if you overbook allthe flts how the he$$ am I going to reroute anybody if I have no seats on any plane??? Its alot easier to offer someone a connex to arrv a couple hours later than it is to offer the next day...and overbooking for returns from Europe is just more insanity..

This is just another example of Tempes bad management....

Anad we wont even go into how impossible it is to process the oversale on this piece of SH$$ computer....an hour after the flt has left the gate I am still struggling to reissue (write a fim) and reconcile the flt....

 

[UWCactus]

I just worked DUB-PHL yesterday and I was forworned about this flt going out over 2hrs late for the last week because the agents WILL NOT comence boarding until they have enough volunteers. This has to be THE Dumbes excuse! I was CSD yesterday and informed the agent (After we were towed from a gate with a jetway to Remote)that we NEED to board at the proper time and if you do not have enough volunteers after everyone has boarded then you leave the over sale pax's with no seat! I know some of you are going to comment that it is NOT fair to leave pax's that purchased a ticket at the gate, your right, however you look at it this flight should Not be over sold at all, people in Europe Do Not give a Rats A@@ about getting a free ticket like americans do, they bought a ticket for a certian day and they expect to get to where they want to go!! Now, thank god we were not over sold but by 6 seats ( unlike the flt the day before-22 seats)we shut the door with 1 open only 10mins late, but guess what...one of the volunteers bag was on the plane so they had to find it and take it off...1 HOUR and 50 MINUTES LATER!!! so we were STILL 2hrs LATE!! What The F--K!!
The Moral is? STOP OVER SELLING EUROPE FLTS!!!!

I think you should pick up the phone and call Yield Management in Tempe. The number is 480-693-0800 and just ask Diana for Yield Management and bring this to the attention of someone or least see what they have to say about it. Maybe they can shed some light on the situation or you can help bring the reality of the situation to someones attention. They would really appreciate hearing from you.

 

[PhxMama]

Although this really doesnt belong on this thread I decided to add this quick note. My mother and niece non reved into dub a few weeks ago and on the return did not make it onto the flight. Knowing the non rev possiblities she was prepared to either purchase tkts or stay some extra days.(No sched to worry about!) While speaking with the agent about how the next days flight looked a US employee overheard their converssation. He identified himself as an employee and introduced his wife and adv they they were taking the bus to snn to make the flight the next day. They invited my mother to join them. My mother, of course, up for ANYTHING, joined them and trvled to snn. This employee, I believe, mech from BOS, originally worked for
Eastern, was very kind to my mother. His request to my Mom was, that I, as a west employee, not think unkindly of my fellow east employees. It was sad and sweet that he would think this. As usual though, its the employees that keep us here. Our customers arent the only ones that flipflop about this company, some of us still stay because of our coworkers, known or unknown. If anyone knows this employee please pm me. I would like to send a personal Thank you. Regards, Mama

 

[hp_fa]

Did she get out of SNN the next day?

 

[USFlyer]

I'm curious, how many US1s were there on full Y tickets? Not sure how many take advantage of it, but a US1 is guaranteed a Y seat if they call at least 24 hours in advance. You could get 4-5 last minute business traveleres who need to go to CDG/FCO/FRA/MUC and instantly have an oversell of 10 or more (given US probably normally oversells by at least 4-5).

 

[PhxMama]

Did she get out of SNN the next day?

Yes, she did and the 4 of them had a great time together! He even tried to upgrade them using his passes. Only he and his wife were upgraded but they did get on! Its the silver lining to non revving. You never know where you can end up or who you will meet! Thanks for asking hp fa. Mama

 

[bam-bam]

DARN....ther goes our easty "tough as boiled leather" image

 

[PhxMama]

Have no fear! It'll take more than a parent non rev trip to spoil that reputation! Just kidding. I know I have posted frequently about how kind and helpful many east employees have been, especially to my mother when she's out and about. When I am traveling I try to help non revs with questions or concerns. I always think Im helping someone else's Mom. I think you guys like being seen as tough but inside many of you are just plain mushy!! Best Regards to my fellow co workers!! Mama

 

[SegmentKing]

After the merger was announced, HP employees & dependents required a pass to fly (paper ticket). We had a frequent guest on our flight, who is the daughter of an HP employee in BWI and she was trying to fly EYW-FLL-BWI, but somehow her pass got destroyed by the sun (she left it in the car in a bad spot). The other supervisor was going to deny her boarding then I was able to get HP in FLL to issue her new passes and give it to US-FLL and they sent it down with the first flight the next day... and thankfully we got her on as the flights to FLL/DCA and FLL/BWI were all packed for the next 3 days.

I've always seen a spirit of cooperation with non-revs, but sometimes you also get some bad apples. I think most of us are aware of whats going on and we're not blaming eachother, especially when we travel, we just want to get where we need to go.