USAirways Gets Blasted

[leprechaun]

We've certainly had more than our share of screw ups, but I still am optomistic about the future of this airline. Everybody trashes our otp but they fail to mention we've been hovering around 80 pct on time since before Labor Day. They are quoting old stats. They conveniently leave out the fact our operation is running smoothly now because it doesn't make for sensationalism. All indications seem to confirm we are better prepared for the holiday rush and bad weather this winter. Don't look for another meltdown. And BTW, I haven't had any Kool-Aid in months.

Another point to consider: The only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity. I doubt if this latest coverage will affect us negatively at all.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

Maybe they should just change the name to "America Worst". It would be more descriptive.

 

[N965VJ]

I don't think it's related to the Zagat survey (oil is up), but US stock hit an all-time intraday low today - $19.71 (so far) vs $20.10 the day it was first publicly traded.

Jim

Finally, something that US is a leader in besides DOT complaints:

US Airways leads sector decline as oil climbs

By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch

Last Update: 10:27 AM ET Nov 20, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- US Airways Inc. and Mesa Air Group Inc. both saw their shares fall more than 4% in early Tuesday trading to pace a broad retreat in the airline sector as crude oil prices tracked toward $96 a barrel.

Link

 

[nycbusdriver]

Empty airplanes over the weekend? Are you joking?

For some, I guess I need to SAY when a comment is tongue-in-cheek.

The comment I made about empty airplanes on the heaviest flying weekend of the years was TONGUE-IN-CHEEK.

Feel better now?

I do.

 

[Travels2mch]

Maybe they should just change the name to "America Worst". It would be more descriptive.

Well it's already America's Worst (but at least we didn't call it American Worst)!

 

[YVINTERN]

Well it's already America's Worst (but at least we didn't call it American Worst)!

:jerry: :jerry: :jerry: :jerry: :jerry: :jerry: :jerry:

 

[US1YFARE]

TONGUE-IN-CHEEK.

were you moving your fist up and down just below your mouth, too?

 

[galley princess]

More than once I have wished that this merger would have adopted the America West name. I think that using the US name was just the beginning of the many bad decisions. It would have been a lot easier to explain the decline in service, the different nickel and dime mindset, and most importantly it would have explained to the East passenger population that US is no more, this is America West and it's a different airline with a different product. Intellectually it would have made more sense to people. It also would have given everyone a safe haven, company and employees alike.
Imagine: East employee: "this is terrible service! What are you doing to UsAirways?
Company Answer: "you don't work for UsAirways anymore, Dorothy."

Customer: "Why is X, Y And Z different? I always get A, B, C"
Employee: This is America West Sir, not UsAirways."

By the way, this is in no way a slight to AWA employees. Your product was different than ours, you were a low cost carrier and performed well in your realm, assumably Westerners like AWA. The thing is, it just isn't translating to the rest of the country, ie. the Eastern Seaboard. Business travelers are a completely different bunch. They are your best travellers. They're great to Flight attendants and agents and we miss them dearly. The leisure traveler is a luggage nightmare, still doesn't get buying a meal, and thinks that you're rude if you don't kiss their feet, all for $89.

In the final analysis I feel very uneasy about this company right now. It has the feeling of "nobody minding the store." It is tough to understand their motivations, they don't care about the customer, they care about the ticket price and the stock and the pursuance of a merger. Oddly enough, their lack of attention to the customer may be the very thing that prevents a merger. Who would want the worst company in the world? I do believe that the customer is aware that the employees are trying to do the best with what they've been given, but the sense in the market place is that we're all a bunch of intractable surly people. Who wants a company with that kind of group? DP et al seem to be becoming increasingly desperate, and it is clear that the top tier running this company is obviously looking for a payday and will cut and run during the bloody aftermath. I for one, am getting my house in order.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

 

[sfb]

By the way, this is in no way a slight to AWA employees. Your product was different than ours, you were a low cost carrier and performed well in your realm, assumably Westerners like AWA. The thing is, it just isn't translating to the rest of the country, ie. the Eastern Seaboard. Business travelers are a completely different bunch. They are your best travellers.

Nope, America West wasn't particularly well-liked even in its home markets. America West was #2 for O&D traffic in its hub cities (behind Southwest, of course) with weak revenue premiums in head-to-head markets at the cost of high competitor market share. They were a low labor cost carrier, but certainly were not a low-fare carrier in uncompetitive markets. By way of example, in 2Q04, HP charged an average of $200 each way for PHX-FAT while their fares for PHX-OAK averaged closer to $120. PHX-DCA fares ran about twice on average what PHX-BWI did.

And back in 2001, Forbes did indeed single out AWA as "America's Worst Airline". From the article: http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0611/105.html

We scoured tons of data on canceled flights, lost luggage, staff rudeness and more to find which carrier is worst at what. And the loser is...

America West. Even in an industry rife with screwups, crummy service and dissembling, America West stands out as a paragon of badness. It ranks worst in customer complaints, worst in lost luggage, worst in cabin comfort and next-to-worst in on-time performance.

 

[JS]

AWA/US and NW should merge and give it a realistic name -- NORTHWORST

 

[john john]

you were a low cost carrier

HP was model after Peoples Express

 

[luvn737s]

US buys virtually no nationwide advertising. With the interconnected nature of todays media, finding a weak statistic in someone who isn't your customer is a green light to pile on. JetBlue's debacles and Southwest's near tragedies are a perfect case in point. Because both are big media buyers, their troubles go away. US is a great low-risk target for sensationalism.

Now back to our regularly scheduled employer-bashing, already in progress.

 

[luvn737s]

How do you explain away the last 12 months of DOT statistics?

Compare them to any other east-coast biased airline that has gone through a major merger and integration. How does US stack up against those?

How do you explain the bad example set by a CEO getting a DUI?

That's not even worth responding to.

How do you explain the fact that the entire executive staff has been caught in lie after lie publicly, with its workforce and customers?

List the names of the officers and their supposed Lies. When is hearing what you don't want to hear, a lie?

How do you explain away the stock price tanking?

I'm no stock expert, but the stock price and on-time performance has never been a 1-1 correlation, as far as I can remember. Maybe they're allowing the east coast pilots union to wag the dog, and some feel it's inhibiting their performance. Maybe they made a bad decision on hedging because they got slightly burned last time. I dunno, just some ideas off the top of my head.

How do you explain the Labor Strife? Isn't that a management issue to address? Has it been addressed?

One word. Franke. If he were here there would be no pussyfooting around. Of course there were other prices to pay for his leadership style. Franke/Bronner one-two punch!! 😛 On the leadership front, I agree they (Parker&Co.) are left wanting. But Matt Lauer didn't talk about that, did he?

I appreciate the fact you feel the need to support your employer, however in the face of overwhelming evidence to support the non stop media bashing what do you have to say? It's not like US Management hasn't given them ample ammunition.

If Parker had renamed the new airline and taken the bull by the horns instead of trying to give the east a soft landing at the expense of the rest of the airline, I think everyone would be over it and well on their way to building a great airline

To those who are convinced there is only one side to this coin, put me on ignore and save your bandwidth.

 

[luvn737s]

More than once I have wished that this merger would have adopted the America West name. I think that using the US name was just the beginning of the many bad decisions. It would have been a lot easier to explain the decline in service, the different nickel and dime mindset, and most importantly it would have explained to the East passenger population that US is no more, this is America West and it's a different airline with a different product. Intellectually it would have made more sense to people. It also would have given everyone a safe haven, company and employees alike.
Imagine: East employee: "this is terrible service! What are you doing to UsAirways?
Company Answer: "you don't work for UsAirways anymore, Dorothy."

Customer: "Why is X, Y And Z different? I always get A, B, C"
Employee: This is America West Sir, not UsAirways."

By the way, this is in no way a slight to AWA employees. Your product was different than ours, you were a low cost carrier and performed well in your realm, assumably Westerners like AWA. The thing is, it just isn't translating to the rest of the country, ie. the Eastern Seaboard. Business travelers are a completely different bunch. They are your best travellers. They're great to Flight attendants and agents and we miss them dearly. The leisure traveler is a luggage nightmare, still doesn't get buying a meal, and thinks that you're rude if you don't kiss their feet, all for $89.

In the final analysis I feel very uneasy about this company right now. It has the feeling of "nobody minding the store." It is tough to understand their motivations, they don't care about the customer, they care about the ticket price and the stock and the pursuance of a merger. Oddly enough, their lack of attention to the customer may be the very thing that prevents a merger. Who would want the worst company in the world? I do believe that the customer is aware that the employees are trying to do the best with what they've been given, but the sense in the market place is that we're all a bunch of intractable surly people. Who wants a company with that kind of group? DP et al seem to be becoming increasingly desperate, and it is clear that the top tier running this company is obviously looking for a payday and will cut and run during the bloody aftermath. I for one, am getting my house in order.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

So why didn't you Keep USAirways YOUR US Airways?

 

[galley princess]

If Parker had renamed the new airline and taken the bull by the horns instead of trying to give the east a soft landing at the expense of the rest of the airline, I think everyone would be over it and well on their way to building a great airline


I don't know if it would be a great airline, but it certainly would have avoided a lot of the mess that has been created. All of the employees would have been in a different mindset, upper and lower alike. The thing is, they can't do the EASY stuff, the stuff that US, with all of its problems managed quite well. How do you run an airline when you can't manage to deliver baggage, cater an airplane, choose a competent Res system and make peace with employees?

They are doing practically NOTHING right. But here's the thing, DP has presided over record profits for USairways. So I can only go with the evidence, and that is that he is right, the American consumer will buy the cheapest ticket on the ricketiest thing with 2 wings. But couldn't he have called this mess something else so we wouldn't have to defend it? Put them both to bed and pull a Valujet. Rename it Eastwest air or something like Econoair and be honest about what you're providing. The travelling public has a remarkably short memory and would finally accept that US is dead. Econoair is here.