Where Was Us Airways' Media People?

[EyeInTheSky]

First of all, it's "Sweeps Period" for TV stations across the country. In case you missed it, WTAE-TV Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate aired a pretty damning story about US Airways and it's airfares. Read transcript here http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/money/...953/detail.html.
The story was well researched, but CLEARLY had an agenda. Wendy Bell had an agenda to do a anti-US Airways piece prior to getting on flight from PIT to MIA. Where was she going? To interview a travel expert for the story. Apparently, Wendy Bell had some cooperation from David Castleveter and Chris Chiames. Problem is, they didn't monitor her actions too well. It is beyond my comprehension how Wendy Bell was able to hand out flyers and have access to 144 passengers on the plane. BIG QUESTIONS:

Why was a reporter allowed to hand out 144 paper questionaires to customers while in flight?

Why were passengers allowed to be interviewd on film?

Should the flight attendants have stopped this?

What happened aboard that airplane was not sanctioned by the company, that I know for a fact. Why didn't a US Airways Corporate Communications employee accompany Ms. Bell and her film crew to Miami? In short, where the hell was US Airways on this? Out to lunch? A reporter and a cameraman boarded the flight, hello?

Yes, PIT employees knew who she was when she boarded her flight on May 28. In fact, they upgraded her to First Class (she did not acknowledge this in her story).

Again, another screw up in the quest to attain positive PR.

 

[Fly]

:angry: That is such BS!! I am so tired of this "legacy" slamfest the media is having. Don't worry though,....soon enough there will only be robots and vending machines (sorta like a subway). Times change

She should be ashamed that she accepted the upgrade then slammed her host. TskTsk :down:

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Fly, the employees were being nice. The point of my post is, why weren't the people that are PAID to deal with the media dealing with this? You can't monitor the airline completely from CCY. Somebody should have been with her. I guarantee you if this was American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, even JetBlue there would have been a company person with the reporter. If Bruce is reading this board, I have some advice for him: Clean house in corporate communications. It's way overdue.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

You know what sucks PineyBob, I bet the whole flight crew and agents get called into their supervisors office over this mess. Sadly, I feel the most innocent employees in this mess will get hurt.

 

[Fly]

Eye - I realized that part. I think it stinks that the media is on a feeding frenzy of all the legacy carriers. I bet the f/a's were totally helpful but the reporter had an agenda to make the airline look bad.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

PineyBob, this story was filmed on Friday, May 28. Contact with the company happened long before that. Blame the TV station, but I blame corporate communications more for allowing this to happen.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

PineyBob, don't have a PM from you yet. Try again. Thanks!

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

I read that article. Very interesting article.


What I think is worse than a reporter getting access to the passengers is the fact that the airline does that sort of thing to its customers.

Attempting to maximize their revenue through this sort of nonsense is why USAirways is in their current situation.

Take, for example, a frequently traveled route of mine: El Paso to Dallas. around 600 miles. Hour and a half...Hour forty, depending on winds and which way you are going.

You watch the internet promotional sales and you can scarf up some $60 tickets. There won't be basketloads of them sold. But some people may have some $60 seats.

Advance purchase tckets...depending on if they are 7 day or 14 day or 21 day...range from $86 to $99.

Senior citizen (>65) and infant-sitting-in-a-seat fares are 80 bucks.

Accompanied child, military, and youth fares run $134.

Full adult coach is $141.

The bottom line: Nobody on the plane paid more than $141 and nobody paid less than $60.

The advance purchase fare is either $86 or $99, depending on how far in advance you bought it.

Gofares is a good idea, but implementing it halfheartedly in markets that WN just happens to be in is really c/s. It means nothing at all. If the alleged leaders of the company in Crystal city care one whit about saving this company, they will overhaul the fare structure and stop the insanity....by tomorrow.

Incremental change is no change at all. It's merely reacting to a competitor.

High fares in markets attract LCCs like blood attracts sharks.

So the ball is in USAirways' court. My bet is it continues to be business as usual...react, too late, to the changes in the marketplace brought on by LCC competition and pretend it is something revolutionary.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Oh please! I watched LUV raise the fares out of BWI as soon as US Airways pulled the hub plug. Southwest DOES NOT always have the cheapest fares. Furthermore, most of the people interviewed in that story paid around $190! You think that's a lot to go to Florida??

When is the world going to get that airlines (even Southwest) need to generate a lot of money to operate? Why doesn't Joe Public realize that it takes a lot of money to operate an aircraft? These pressurized aluminum cans take money to maintain, to fly, to fuel, etc. What happens when people don't pay the RIGHT PRICE to fly? Airlines are giving away their product because they simply cannot get a grip on pricing. Hopefully, the new pricing strategy will work. Unfortunately, US Airways' senior work force will be subsidizing the cheaper fares with deep paycuts.

 

[funguy2]

Its true... Southwest often does not have the lowest fare... However, they tend to have reasonable walk-up fares, and less disparity between the top (i.e. $1115) fare and the bottom (i.e. $190) fare. That's what people like about it... It is predictable.

While I agree that CCY folks should have gone along with, they would have been ineffective at stopping the story... What was the CCY person going to say? US Airways does have a complicated pricing structure and it is designed to maximize the amount of money they can get from each passenger.

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

Eye in the sky:

How much did WN jack up prices in and out of BWI?

Do they have any $1115 fares to any place from there?

The argument against the pricing policies of USAirways (or any carrier) is not that they are trying to make a buck. They are in business. They are expected to try and make a buck.

The problem is they are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

They want to take the low end passengers (you know, the trailer trash that supposedly always flies on WN) and charge them $37 for a transcon while extoring $58,000 for the same ticket from the guy who drives Lexus.

This complicated minute-by-minute change of the fare structure is dumb and it aggravates passengers who, with the power they now have thru the internet, can see what is going on.

IF they wanted to be smart, they would set a price - this is the wlkup fare, this is the 7 day, the 14 day, and the 21 day advance purchase fare, and let it alone.

Pricing policy at the legacy carriers and their economic condition is sort of like a scab---if they'd doctor it up (turn it into something vaguely sensible) and let it alone, it might get well.

 

[firstamendment]

Keep adding on the reasons to pull the PIT Hub and get the hell out of that ungrateful city. It's going to happen and I can't wait to slam those unsupportive SOB's when it happens. You will be reduced to the second rate city that you are when US leaves. Buh, Bye...jerks!! :down: :down:

 

[pitguy]

Sounds like they need to get the fares in order.

 

[oldiesfan]

In case you missed it, WTAE-TV Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate aired a pretty damning story about US Airways and it's airfares.

Why were passengers allowed to be interviewd on film?

WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliate, not NBC.

Tape--or perhaps digital storage--but
certainly not film.

 

[TheLarkAscending]

Keep adding on the reasons to pull the PIT Hub and get the hell out of that ungrateful city. It's going to happen and I can't wait to slam those unsupportive SOB's when it happens. You will be reduced to the second rate city that you are when US leaves. Buh, Bye...jerks!! :down: :down:

Y'know, first, you're such a class act ... NOT. You damn a whole city full of people because one reporter on a tear to prove a point has made a sweeps week docudrama. Whom is the jerk here, exactly?