The Changes to Come

[sharktooth]

Other airlines are cutting back where USAirways cannot due to old labor agreements. It is WAY beyond who's fault it is. That is besides the point. . . the question is what can be done NOW.

Assuming the company went to the unions and asked for relief, and, of course hopefully, the unions had a little price tag that, perhaps, the company could barely stomach, in a perfect world.

Assuming Tempe did the right thing, for once, would take massive amounts of recreational, mind-altering substances.

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/ite...k=51239774.blog

US Airways to charge for soft drinks, add fee for 1st checked bag?

 

[Hey.. Chill Out]

FA's are going to look at hustlers at a dice game holding a big wad of cash selling sodas.

CMON CMON!

 

[4merresrat]

FA's are going to look at hustlers at a dice game holding a big wad of cash selling sodas.

CMON CMON!

I can't believe this soda thing goes on and on. . . what is the big deal? Buy a coke before boarding. Or water. If you are dying of thirst buy a dollar soda. Get over it. This is not going to make or break the cause. When you take alternate means of transportation a free soda isn't a given. This will NOT sway a customers choice one way or another.

 

[4merresrat]

Also no coke = less work for FAs. Should make em happy. I always thought meals/drinks on flights was kinda silly.

 

[Zarah]

FA's are going to look at hustlers at a dice game holding a big wad of cash selling sodas.

CMON CMON!

I am sure it is just another use for those sleek little handheld machines that were in the crewroom and being tested for a cashless liquor and BOB system.

 

[hp_fa]

If I were a board member and an executive from the company came before me and tried to tell me that part of saving the company would entail charging $2.00 - $3.00 for a $0.20 drink that had been free for years I would strongly suggest that the executive submit a resignation letter immeditaely.

 

[Planemx]

Keep your ears on folks....1pm PHX time, press release........$$$ for checked bag, $$$ for a can of pop, less flights, less people - who knows. But you can bet your sweet arse it won't be good for the working man.

 

[StewGuy86]

Okay, 1:00 PHX time. But when is that? Since it's summer and we're on Daylight Saving Time, does that mean that PHX is now on Pacific time? Or do they now recognize DST, which would put them on Mountain time? 😉

 

[hp-csr-phx]

Arizona is currently on Mountain Standard Time, the same as Pacific Daylight Time. 1:00pm in Arizona is 4:00pm on the East Coast.

 

[Planemx]

Okay, 1:00 PHX time. But when is that? Since it's summer and we're on Daylight Saving Time, does that mean that PHX is now on Pacific time? Or do they now recognize DST, which would put them on Mountain time? 😉

Good question - they'll probably charge us to get the answer at the rate things are going. I think they are on the same zone as DEN now - does that make them Mountain time?

 

[EMBFA]

Bunch of idiots. When no one follows we will be left with egg on our face as usual. Some points about selling soda.

* Just like liquor, headsets, meals and anything else we've ever sold, half of them will be given away for free to non-revs, hot guys, children, and dissatified customers (hint to mgmt- it's called service recovery and we are good at it because you're so bad at your job).

* Again, just like anything else we've sold, about two thirds of the $$, if cash is used, will end up in the pockets of employees. Spare the moral debate, it's fact that people are not paying bills on $1200 a month.

* If there is no incentive to fire up a machine and walk through the cabin looking like a dope, no one's going to do it. If you put commission on it they'll be out there like white on rice, but then you are raising your prices anyway. F/As will claim there is not enough time to do the accounting involved, so on many flights you will have eliminated any kind of service whatsoever. (

* US Airways, even before it joined the circus, as never been serious about accounting for anything. The current admin can't paint a plane, configure it, get a bag from A to B, or even write a letter without messing it up royally. You can't possibly believe they are going to account for thousands upon thousands of cans of sodas. Give me a break.

* The negative publicity, late night talk show jokes, and fleeing customers will negate any savings gained from such a chintzy move. The LCC's (real ones, not high cost legacies in drag) are not even doing this.

Why not just cut the service window to beverages served to only on flights of more than two hours? You avoid the negative publicity, and if you think about it, most US Airways flights are under two hours anyway...

 

[Black Magic]

US Airways should get more serious about not missing soo many customer bags. I heard that it costs the company $75-100 per missed bag to get it back to the customer. Things like that decrease revenue.

 

[NoMoreKoolAid]

How is this labor's fault? I'm the lowest paid major airline pilot in the nation. At the end of the day the labor issues are managements fault. They decided to handle things they way they did.

HERE HERE!

 

[jerseyfinn]

OK, all airlines are being forced to face a cold, hard fact that has been out there in the open for a very long time -- Commercial aviation's business model has always been flawed. The difference now is that high oil costs finally compel airline executives to do something about the mess they have helped to create ( but remember, your pax have also "aided and abetted" your execs in this act ).

So I'm not surprised that everything is now on the table, including charging for a can of coke. But also remember that no matter how high executives drive air fares, ( or how much pax whine ) the name of the game remains point A to point B, on-time and with bags. The interesting paradox here is that while everyone is presently focused upon costs ( raising fares & paring costs to increase revenues ) the focus of flying will increasingly fall upon the product and experience a pax receives and they ponder what they receive for their money. This will especially apply to your FFers who are spending bucks with you folks irrespective of oil costs. So I do indeed gotta pay more because that's the way it is but I'm not gonna be nickel dicked as well. All of us are getting hosed by higher prices at the pumps and higher prices for goods and services that are trucked/trained/shipped/flown to our markets and our homes. I'll tell you right now that Tempe is not simply gonna pass higher prices and less service on to me using oil as an excuse. If that's the game they and the other majors are gonna play, then I'll fly WN and give them the money before I'll ever hand it to Tempe or another major. We all made this mess, now own up to it & do the job right.

So I hope that Tempe and their majors brethren do not forget that a partnership exists between themselves and their customers which extends beyond the save-your-own-ass thinking which is flowing through the board rooms at all airlines. It is still about a product experience which see beyond knee-to-chest cabin configurations, or at least a product mixture which gives the poor jerk stuck in coach an opportunity to opt into a better seat. Aviation is indeed going to change. But the duty and obligation to the customer remains the same. Build a product which accomodates the market and the oil environment. The price is gonna be the price, but don't make the mistake of assuminig that all of your pax are stupid cattle. We vote with our dollars.

Barry