Usairbegins,
I agree with you but there is more to it. You are right that the finance guys are in charge--which is at best dangerous. With little or no operational knowledge they delegate that part of it to others, who may or may not know what they are doing. BUT being money guys means that even assuming the operations managers ARE competent (which we are not sure about in the new US??) they may not get the money to do the job right. The airline is losing elite flyers at a record pace...why? It started off being that they couldn't compete with the other major airlines in product and service....then the reliability of the operation and customer service hit bottom, and customer relations was no more than complaint resolution. All the vouchers and press releases on how the performance was over the recent holiday won't fix the inherent operational problems, which to the best of our knowledge are still being ignored.
The fundamental issue, and the MAIN cause for the current state of the airline, is the priorities of current management, which relate directly to your theory. It is a generally acknowledged principle that in order to have a successful business (not just airline), you need to prioritize as follows:
1. Employees--give them the tools they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently, and to resolve issues as they arise...basically ENABLE them to take care of the customer.
2. Customers--if you take care of 1, you have a much easier time of handling 2--it is much less expensive to keep customers you already have than to get new ones...but as we know US is currently doing NEITHER very well.
3. Shareholders (and by extension management)--take care of 1 and 2 and 3 takes care of itself. It's a PROVEN fact.
Unfortunately, the current team thinks that only number 3 matters and the first two are liabilities, rather than assets. Until there is a paradigm shift in this fundamental belief, I don't think this company has any chance of long term success.
When the yields (and loads) begin to plummet, and I DO believe they will, perhaps they will see the light, but I don't think so.
The new program of selling Elite Status shows that they just want the money--things like this add revenue, but hide the real issue--they do NOT know how to run an airline of the size of the new US Airways. It is my understanding that one can now PURCHASE Chairmans status, or even the new Executive Status....at best a mistake, at worst a disaster waiting to happen. Nothing like ticking off the best customers, who have EARNED those privileges.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of people like me, who used to provide tens of thousands of revenue per year to US, who have just given up and moved on. I have spent over $20K in air over the last few months, and not one penny went to US. I let my club membership expre, and am in the process of cancelling my Bank of America VISA. Until things change, and US realizes that customers and employees are a critical part in the formula, they will not see a dollar of revenue from me.
That said, my biggest wish would be to see positive change and an incentive to come back--but then again, most of the people I was so close to at US and who are the reason I stayed around as long as I did are also gone....sad indeed.
As stated in the other thread, from the mouths of US management themselves, we get a glimpse of how they really feel. They are good at spin, but not substance. All the press releases in the world don't fix the fundamental problems--which continue to be ignored.
It's time for Tempe to see the light......and for now I'd be glad to hold the flashlight, but the batteries are running down.......
My best to you all........
As for Rakesh he was more of a people person but was under Wolf's thumb.
