USA TODAY Posted 11/9/2005 8:12 AM Updated 11/9/2005 8:16 AM
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-1...ir-sofar_x.htm#
US Airways' new ride is a bit turbulent
By Dawn Gilbertson, The Arizona Republic
Six weeks into their merger, America West and US Airways report no major service snafus and say things have gone better than they expected on many fronts.
That doesn't mean the airlines' frequent fliers are rejoicing. What's minor to the nation's fifth-largest airline can be major to passengers who traverse the country by plane every week on business.
The biggest headaches they cite so far: difficulty booking flights and checking in online, encounters with confused and sometimes tense employees, harder-to-get first-class upgrades and airfares that don't live up to the new US Airways' pitch as the country's first nationwide low-fare, low-cost airline.
"They're definitely testing my patience," said Steve Nickerson, a Scottsdale-based sales executive for a major health care company.
Nickerson, who travels twice a week, exclusively on the former America West, said he feels like he's on "crazy pills" since the merger.
Customer service for top frequent fliers has suffered, with reservations mistakes and rude customer service on some occasions, he said, and the airline is rigidly enforcing change fees and other policies that were more flexible in the past, at least for the upper tier of frequent fliers.
Nickerson considers himself low maintenance but says he is extremely frustrated with his experiences since the deal closed Sept. 27. Even if half the problems he encountered were his doing, the service trend is troubling, he said. Earlier this week, he was so fed up that he flew Alaska Airlines home from Seattle.
"I'm just going to spread out my business until they get their act together," he said.
Brian Gagan, a partner in Scottsdale-based consulting firm Leadership Strategies, said he was so frustrated with the lack of low fares on US Airways out of Phoenix that his company booked $47,000 worth of travel on other carriers last week. They included Southwest, American, Continental and British Airways.
No trouble for some
Passengers' experiences run the gamut, of course, and plenty of America West and US Airways frequent fliers report no merger troubles and love the expanded route map and the extra frequent flier miles and awards they bring.
Larry Seal, a leadership and communications coach who travels 40 to 45 weeks a year and is in the top level of the new airline's frequent flier program, has no complaints.
"Everything's been pretty smooth," the president of Phoenix-based Engaged Communication said. "If anything, I think maybe the service has picked up a little bit because everybody feels on the spot."
The only significant change he's noticed is more competition for first-class upgrades since there's a bigger pool of frequent fliers in the combined airline's program.
Seal says he does sense tension over the merger among in-flight employees. He hopes brewing labor battles over seniority don't spill over into customer service.
"That's exactly what happened in the bad old days with (former CEO Bill) Franke," Seal said. "The service was just abysmal."
Service report due soon
The first official customer service measures of the new US Airways, on everything from on-time arrivals to customer complaints, won't be out for a month when the government releases its Air Travel Consumer Report for October.
Kirby and other US Airways executives said there have been glitches but the overall picture of the merger's early days is positive.
The officials are likely to be asked for an update on operations during the airline's third-quarter earnings conference call today.
"The level of dust has been less than we thought it would be," said Kirby, referring to the airline's Pardon Our Dust merger customer service campaign. "That doesn't mean we've all been perfect. We've done better than expected."
Execs see 'hiccups'
Jeff McClelland, who oversaw America West's operations for years before the merger and now heads up other areas for the combined company, said, "Are there hiccups? Yeah. There's going to be hiccups."
The executives said the airlines are still not completely consistent in being able to handle each others' passengers, for various reasons, and technology glitches led to flights being priced differently on each airline's website. The upgrade system for frequent fliers was troublesome in the beginning. Then there's the inevitable passenger confusion over where to check in.
Kirby said US Airways is eager to get to one brand name to alleviate some of the confusion. The corporate name changed to US Airways the day of the merger, but you still hear America West when you fly on US Airways flights operated by the old America West and when you go online or call reservations. On many America West flights, the name US Airways never comes up.
Old systems remain
Part of the problem is a function of different reservation systems and will linger for another year or so, Kirby said. But he said the airline's goal is to have a single brand name for most things by the beginning of the year.
On the fare front, Kirby said there are some markets, especially smaller ones served by the original US Airways on the East Coast, where fares will not plunge. Demand is not strong and the airline serves many of the routes with smaller planes, which bring higher costs. He likened it to fares between Phoenix and Yuma.
The high fares, running more than $1,000 roundtrip in many cases, are a hot topic on forums at Flyertalk.com.
Tempe frequent flier Thomas Flynn, who inspects commercial properties around the country for a large insurance company, says he will avoid US Airways flights in that region because "they aren't cheap."
"I'll look for other airlines," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-1...ir-sofar_x.htm#
US Airways' new ride is a bit turbulent
By Dawn Gilbertson, The Arizona Republic
Six weeks into their merger, America West and US Airways report no major service snafus and say things have gone better than they expected on many fronts.
That doesn't mean the airlines' frequent fliers are rejoicing. What's minor to the nation's fifth-largest airline can be major to passengers who traverse the country by plane every week on business.
The biggest headaches they cite so far: difficulty booking flights and checking in online, encounters with confused and sometimes tense employees, harder-to-get first-class upgrades and airfares that don't live up to the new US Airways' pitch as the country's first nationwide low-fare, low-cost airline.
"They're definitely testing my patience," said Steve Nickerson, a Scottsdale-based sales executive for a major health care company.
Nickerson, who travels twice a week, exclusively on the former America West, said he feels like he's on "crazy pills" since the merger.
Customer service for top frequent fliers has suffered, with reservations mistakes and rude customer service on some occasions, he said, and the airline is rigidly enforcing change fees and other policies that were more flexible in the past, at least for the upper tier of frequent fliers.
Nickerson considers himself low maintenance but says he is extremely frustrated with his experiences since the deal closed Sept. 27. Even if half the problems he encountered were his doing, the service trend is troubling, he said. Earlier this week, he was so fed up that he flew Alaska Airlines home from Seattle.
"I'm just going to spread out my business until they get their act together," he said.
Brian Gagan, a partner in Scottsdale-based consulting firm Leadership Strategies, said he was so frustrated with the lack of low fares on US Airways out of Phoenix that his company booked $47,000 worth of travel on other carriers last week. They included Southwest, American, Continental and British Airways.
No trouble for some
Passengers' experiences run the gamut, of course, and plenty of America West and US Airways frequent fliers report no merger troubles and love the expanded route map and the extra frequent flier miles and awards they bring.
Larry Seal, a leadership and communications coach who travels 40 to 45 weeks a year and is in the top level of the new airline's frequent flier program, has no complaints.
"Everything's been pretty smooth," the president of Phoenix-based Engaged Communication said. "If anything, I think maybe the service has picked up a little bit because everybody feels on the spot."
The only significant change he's noticed is more competition for first-class upgrades since there's a bigger pool of frequent fliers in the combined airline's program.
Seal says he does sense tension over the merger among in-flight employees. He hopes brewing labor battles over seniority don't spill over into customer service.
"That's exactly what happened in the bad old days with (former CEO Bill) Franke," Seal said. "The service was just abysmal."
Service report due soon
The first official customer service measures of the new US Airways, on everything from on-time arrivals to customer complaints, won't be out for a month when the government releases its Air Travel Consumer Report for October.
Kirby and other US Airways executives said there have been glitches but the overall picture of the merger's early days is positive.
The officials are likely to be asked for an update on operations during the airline's third-quarter earnings conference call today.
"The level of dust has been less than we thought it would be," said Kirby, referring to the airline's Pardon Our Dust merger customer service campaign. "That doesn't mean we've all been perfect. We've done better than expected."
Execs see 'hiccups'
Jeff McClelland, who oversaw America West's operations for years before the merger and now heads up other areas for the combined company, said, "Are there hiccups? Yeah. There's going to be hiccups."
The executives said the airlines are still not completely consistent in being able to handle each others' passengers, for various reasons, and technology glitches led to flights being priced differently on each airline's website. The upgrade system for frequent fliers was troublesome in the beginning. Then there's the inevitable passenger confusion over where to check in.
Kirby said US Airways is eager to get to one brand name to alleviate some of the confusion. The corporate name changed to US Airways the day of the merger, but you still hear America West when you fly on US Airways flights operated by the old America West and when you go online or call reservations. On many America West flights, the name US Airways never comes up.
Old systems remain
Part of the problem is a function of different reservation systems and will linger for another year or so, Kirby said. But he said the airline's goal is to have a single brand name for most things by the beginning of the year.
On the fare front, Kirby said there are some markets, especially smaller ones served by the original US Airways on the East Coast, where fares will not plunge. Demand is not strong and the airline serves many of the routes with smaller planes, which bring higher costs. He likened it to fares between Phoenix and Yuma.
The high fares, running more than $1,000 roundtrip in many cases, are a hot topic on forums at Flyertalk.com.
Tempe frequent flier Thomas Flynn, who inspects commercial properties around the country for a large insurance company, says he will avoid US Airways flights in that region because "they aren't cheap."
"I'll look for other airlines," he said.
