US Airways product changes

[rjh]

You are so absolutely right! If you have a company, every product you carry should carry the same name. That has been the whole demise of the airline industry, they cannot hold onto an identifiable product...for example: "USAirways flight 123 operated by United Express flight 234 operated by Sky West flight 345, as America West flight 456 leaves Phoenix at 1pm and arrives in Orlando at 12pm the next day, will you need a rental car with that or can I connect you to Hotels.com?". Try explaining that one to your customer.

too funny!!!!! 😀

 

[bookmdano]

too funny!!!!! 😀

Thank you, thank you. And if we are on the subject of product names...I could never stand US's terms: Silver Preferred; Gold Preferred and Chairman's Preferred. Aren't ALL customers preferred? How insulting to the "non-preferred" group. Does that mean the company does not "prefer" your business if you only fly periodically? Get rid of the "preferred" list. Tier 1 2 and 3 are sufficient names without insulting everyone else. If I'm not a preferred guest on your airline, then I'll take my preferred money elsewhere. Even renaming the tiers to Silver Member, Gold Member, Chairman's Member is better than "Preferring one customer over another".

 

[UWCactus]

I just got a chance to read the new US Airways magazine and I thought it was a "good read". There were some simple reading articles in it, great pictures, advertisements that encompass all geographical areas. Though the pages for the inflight service/entertainment had to be submitted a few months ago, they can be confusing, but as we move into a single product those pages will be easier to understand.

For now, if passsengers refer to the magazine for beverage selections, they will indeed be confused. US West still has listed "pepsi" products and US East still lists "Coke" products. Once the bidding is completed, we will all get our answer on this one. US East will be going to larger plastic cups, new logo'd sytrofoams (bigger), and more.

On January 4, rebranding begins to take hold much more aggressively for US West. New sytrofoam cups with the US Airways logo are now on board all flighs. Magazine goes in tonight and tomorrow. Announcements are cut down on eq with AV equip. A new video to be shown at "level off" (similar to US East) which covers PEE's, Mastercard, Skymall, etc...All references to flights will be "US Airways flight (blank) formerly America West flight (blank)". Announcements to this effect will still take place on US West B737, which have no AV equipment.

Announcements have long been a problem at US West. They have been wordy, hard to say and hard to listen to, especially with some of the announement makers out there. A professional would have had a hard time making the announcements sound professional, easy to understand, and effective.

It's all moving forward and to me its an exciting time. Change is ongoing and I'm hopeful for a good balance between the US East product and the US West product.

 

[hulagirl]

Because you're probably one of the muddlemouths who HATES her job so much she can't make a clear announcement. That must be why we have double-digit increases in SkyMall sales that make the company money in true commission. Don't you have a sick call to make? :down:
Not anymore than what you do in the jumpseat while reading US weekly. Go make your sick call now...

real nice...she was just making the point that we are required to make too many marketing announcements, and thus the SAFETY announcements are lost. BACK OFF~

 

[AIRWOMAN]

real nice...she was just making the point that we are required to make too many marketing announcements, and thus the SAFETY announcements are lost. BACK OFF~

My suggestion would be to separate the SAFETY announcements from the marketing announcements.....whether it be time line separations or using a different FA for the announcements. I think that a change in the voice may perk some interest. Or else incorporate ALL the marketing announcements into the pre-recorded tapes but then again, that may not work.......marketing changes would lead to redoing the tapes. :unsure:

Safety is paramount and marketing/sales are extra fluff.

 

[a320av8r]

I just read the new US Airways magazine.
I too thought it was good.
Just chill, not everything is soooo important.

 

[AstroLounge]

I agree with AIRWOMAN in keeping the safety related info separate from the marketing fluff......people tend to tune you out if there is OVERLOAD. Don't quite agree with the notion that "Attache'" was pretentious/ haughty but thats MY Opinion. What really boils my blood is when you have a captive audience (the cabin) subjected to 12-14 references of USAirways this, USAirways that, USAirways is pleased, is proud is honored to..... who in the hell are you kidding? Did the flight suddenly become an Aeroflot flight that some bozo needed to keep repeating the name to REMIND our pax who they were flying? Stupid stuff like this gets noticed.....TRUST ME!! 🙄

 

[Barbell]

real nice...

I was wrong and I admitted, atoned for, and apologized specifically to flytchick very publicly nearly 12 hours earlier. Not once, but twice.

 

[Snafu]

I just read the new US Airways magazine.
I too thought it was good.
Just chill, not everything is soooo important.

But all those little things add up to the most important thing........a successful airline.

Agreed.......get rid of all the fancy names........back to the basics: business class, tiered level frequent fliers, etc. The KISS principal.......Keep It Simple Silly. Then the emphasis can be redirected to the important things like on time flights, personal and friendly customer service......the things that make the airline survive and succeed.

 

[FlyUs]

Worked BOS-AUA-BOS with new videos and magazine. I like the boarding video. The level-off seemed too long. You can definitely tell US/East is not running the show. Things sort of look like the hp website.

 

[Barbell]

You can definitely tell US/East is not running the show. Things sort of look like the hp website.

So overall, is it better or worse? Is safety highlighted and separate from the marketing, as many have stated it should be?

FYI - the newly launched usairways.com is rumored to be americawest.com with a new name, which is probably why the videos have that feel.

 

[FlyUs]

So overall, is it better or worse? Is safety highlighted and separate from the marketing, as many have stated it should be?

FYI - the newly launched usairways.com is rumored to be americawest.com with a new name, which is probably why the videos have that feel.

I'm probably biased. Overall, the new videos are fine. I love the boarding video. Very relaxing. The commercials are new to US/East. Like the movie theater, I hate commercials. I thought there was a commercial for mangoes or some fruit during short subjects. A little cheesy. A contrast to the "serious" tone of old US. I love the cover of the new magazine. A lot of ads for Arizona, as there should be, I guess.

 

[UWCactus]

Commericial are new to HP as well. The Mastercard commercial in the level off video is a first for HP. HP has a lot of success with it's Triva programming, shown on short hauls and with medium haul with a movie. Boarding videos change now and then, with Christmas music during December. It is important to remember the HP has always really been targeting reveune and ways to generate revenue. Thats why the tray table advertising came into play, commercials and marketing announcements on a/c, free advertising is always good. Napkins have advertisements on them, the trivia program show a destination after each question. Expect this trend to continue, however as long as they continue to use professional methods, I"m cool with it.

The safety video is a completely separate video shown during taxi. During the level off video the only safety items discussed are the use of Portable Electronic Devices (PED's) and use a reminder the keep your seat belt fastened.

All of this is clearly America West moving into the US Airways system, so many things will be new to US East. Some things are going the US East side of things, such as cabin divider curtains, which are being installed on HP a/c.

 

[FCYTravis]

Us HP frequent flyers really appreciate the curtains for F-cabins! You would think it would be such a small thing, but it really does make a difference in the quality of experience. One, it deters Y pax from coming forward through the F cabin to use the front lav and two, it creates a visual separation making the F area "feel" more cozy and secluded.

Small things add up.

 

[TheNewLowFare]

I am working a flight that has the new video. Yey!!!! No more announcements!!!

The video has the skymall, mileage , level off announcements about portable devices. (I guess this was adopted from US East) and then it includes the Trivia (adopted from US West).

I like the video and I think it´s very profesional.

The curtains are also back at US west and the new US Airways magazines are now at all America West flights.

One thing I have noticed, the new US Airways safety cards look like the old America West safety cards. . 🙂

Looking forward to more good things to come in the future.