Bob-
Your observation about no pillows actually proves your point about doing a good job even more- there is not supposed to be pillows on any Express carrier.
This is due to how the aircraft are cleaned and some sort of sanitation law (or perhaps just an Airways rule). Technically, they don't have a "pillow liscense". A friend of mine who flies for an Express carrier said they recieved specific instructions to throw out or give to catering any found on board. He said that customers and enterprising flight attendants take them from mainline aircraft and leave them, but they shouldn't be there. Blankets are another story for medical reasons.
Similarly, the use of cellular phones during taxi is currently permitted on mainline flights only. Again, this is something that each airline has to have individually approved, so until all carriers have this permission, no cell phone use on Express.
Will you be offered pillows on one Express flight, but not the other? Probably. Will an Express F/A not say a word as your seatmate roars his rental car plans into the phone as you taxi to the gate? Probably. Just because Airways vainly attempts to make ten different companies look and act the same, doesnt mean the carriers will comply. In some cases it's the company itself (low morale, high turnover, inexperienced, unprofessional culture- you know which ones) and in some its just an uncaring employee (who's going to tell on you when you work alone? And why should they care about US Airways anyway- thier paycheck doesnt come from them, and if US gets rid of thier carrier someone else will use them.)
Another thing to keep in mind is that many of these airlines contract with anywhere from one to four different "mainline" airlines. Employees and even aircraft are interchangeable, which affects the service levels you get. You may be hearing America West announcements, ot perhaps Delta does have pillows on thier affiliates flights.
Contract carrier flight attendants recieve very little training (Shuttle America is reportedly roughly a week, compared to major airlines that range from six to nine weeks) and most of it focuses on basic aircraft training. There is very little time spent on product familiarization. Ask your next Express F/A if US Airways flies to Japan, what the Star Alliance is, who Dave Siegel is, and what the tiers of the Dividend Miles program are. You'll be surprised.
The wholly owned US Airways Express carriers are a completely different story. They operate exclusively for Airways and thier training is very similar. The flight attendants of Allegheny, PSA, and Piedmont seem to be hired, trained, and expected to perform exactly as US Airways flight attendants. When one of thier F/As deadheaded on US, you wouldnt know the difference from a mainline F/A (well, when mainline still had junior people). When some of the affiliates F/As did, you usually knew. Also, despite some bad blood (mostly between pilots), the W/Os consider themselves and are considered part of the family- just another part of US Airways Group, whose direction is controlled from CCY.
They should hire me as VP- Consistency and Acting Like A Real Airline.
