US Airways is struggling to hire baggage handlers

Wow. That's pretty sad. It's a shame that PHL is still suffering from the baggage debacle, but since no one in power is really interested in solving the problem, we'll continue to see news stories like this one.

I liked the last part of the article about free or almost free travel. It's hard to non-rev when almost every flight is oversold, weight-restricted, embargoed or contains a several hour layover for connection.

Despite high gas prices, driving to a destination is making more sense, not only to our customers but our employees as well. So much for employment perks. :(
 
You mean non-revving isn't the carrot-on-the-stick airline mgmt. seems to think it is? I'm shocked...just shocked! :rolleyes:

LOL! Well, it used to be. Many times I remember being able to get on a flight on my days off with only the worry of being lowest in seniority and getting bumped. That wasn't a major problem, because the next flight wasn't usually that far off. The other bonus was being able to get back home and return to work the next day.

No wonder Tempe created SA1. They knew perfectly well that no one was going anywhere without it.
 
the damage has been completed by usair's old mgmt and now it has continued and will very well continue. in my city, we're lucky to have say 4 people to handle say 3 planes at a time. that is if no one calls out sick or quits, but given the wages that piedmont pays as well as usair pays, its a no brainer that they cant keep new hires and it will bethat much more harder during the winter.
 
the damage has been completed by usair's old mgmt and now it has continued and will very well continue. in my city, we're lucky to have say 4 people to handle say 3 planes at a time. that is if no one calls out sick or quits, but given the wages that piedmont pays as well as usair pays, its a no brainer that they cant keep new hires and it will bethat much more harder during the winter.

Absolutely correct! And I use the argument that the perks were a great way to retain employees at miserable wages. The tradeoff was that you fly for free and get to go places that you haven't been to before or would love to go to again.

I also know what it's like to be shorthanded on the ramp. Unless you are a glutton for punishment, being short on agents when you have three (or more) planes coming in or going out simultaneously is a freaking nightmare.

Yes, I agree it will be interesting to see what happens this winter, especially in PHL. New paint and baggage belts are great, but they become irrelevant when there is no one outside to load planes in the snow at low wages.
 
the damage has been completed by usair's old mgmt and now it has continued and will very well continue. in my city, we're lucky to have say 4 people to handle say 3 planes at a time. that is if no one calls out sick or quits, but given the wages that piedmont pays as well as usair pays, its a no brainer that they cant keep new hires and it will bethat much more harder during the winter.
Yes much harder in ther winter. You guys will put the New Hires in the De-Ice bucket with little or no experience. Then they will call in the next day saying the job isnt worth it.....
 
You know whats really sad, and this will apply to all stations in due time. When it comes time for all the high timers to retire, and for the company it cant come to soon, the airline will do a crash and burn. This airline was built on the backs of the senior people, and almost every post you read there is 90% bitching, but they really do care about their jobs and making this ship float. This is not a knock against the newbies making 9.50/hr, but they will never know the sacrafices that were made to keep this thing going....The company will not survive by starting people out @ 9.50/hr, they will spend more on grease keeping the revolving door working....When I started in aviation I thought I was rich making 4.65/hr, but that was then and this is now....
 
To those on this board who were so quick with the "if you don't like it leave" response.
In Philly.....
Over 100 agents with 15+ years didn't like the change in working conditions, pay cuts, benefit cuts, ect.
SO THEY LEFT!
40 new hires a month don't like working in the heat, working weekends, and being forced to work overtime at the end of their shift.
SO THEY LEFT!
Quite a few applicants don't like the "Senority....you don't have any." speech at the job fairs.
SO THEY LEFT!

So what now?
You don't want the nay-sayers to stay....but you have no answer for when they leave.
Careful what you wish for!
 
Great point crushed. In our city we have had a few 20+ year employees leave and have another three or four geting ready to leave before the Holidays. We are Currently Eight people under staffed which doesnt seem like much but it over 25% of our work force. It is going to get very interesting in the next few years.
 
FWIW, I was in MSP the other day and heard NW advertising on a rock-n-roll radio station for baggage handlers. “On the spot interviewsâ€￾ at the Mall of America.

Oh yeah, travel benefits too.

I was just checking my yahoo email and there was a full sized banner ad for southwest hiring ramper's in phl.
All I get is cell phone ads, but when I filled out the Yahoo profile I told them I live in Beverly Hills…
 
USAirways refuses to increase the wages for ramp. Why? Because for some assinine, detached mentally, they don't buy the fact that its 'ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, HONEY"!

They really, really need to go back and renegotiate the wages to increase across the board, and provide a min. of FULL TIME employment for the ramp agents...these folks need to be able to support their families and affford medical. Otherwise, these folks will include other jobs that they must maintain in order to support their families' needs.

Mismanagement of the PHL operation WILL CONTINUE TO PISS OFF THE PUBLIC , and by the end of the year say "bye-bye" to any profits...and be back in the RED.

The situation will NEVER improve until managment recognizes how very vital and important the job duties of the ramp agents are to the overall operation, apecifically customer service delivery.
 
To those on this board who were so quick with the "if you don't like it leave" response.
In Philly.....
Over 100 agents with 15+ years didn't like the change in working conditions, pay cuts, benefit cuts, ect.
SO THEY LEFT!
40 new hires a month don't like working in the heat, working weekends, and being forced to work overtime at the end of their shift.
SO THEY LEFT!
Quite a few applicants don't like the "Senority....you don't have any." speech at the job fairs.
SO THEY LEFT!

So what now?
You don't want the nay-sayers to stay....but you have no answer for when they leave.
Careful what you wish for!
Well Said,
It's obvious this company is beginning to reap what it has sown when it comes to employee relationships.

Seems DP thinks he can continue to get away with paying employees sub-par wages. [We'll see].

Hope management is enjoying their bonuses, stock options or raises, which have come directly off the backs of the front line workers.

Guess I can't complain, I received a nice little bag of trinkets and watched a touching video about how wonderful it is to work here..RAH, RAH.. :shock: :down:
 
I can tell you the problem first hand, Usairways inflexability in hiring.My situation was I'm a former mainline employee and express ramp supervisor. I moved to phl and was interested in working part time on the ramp. Went to the interview and was told that you had to be available any 5 days a week for all shifts, that if anyone had another job it wouldn't work.(All this for $9.50 an hour.)Also I might add, looking around the room the quality of the applicants left a little to be desired. So how many good applicants does Usairways loose because of not having a flexible part time program?