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Management finally admits the reasons for the holiday customer disruptions.
January 2, 2005
Dear Members,
Happy New Year, and hope all of you had a pleasant and safe New Year celebration.
What a way to start 2005...
In the Pittsburgh Post Gazette today, Jerry Glass finally admits that the Company had cut their "employment base" in an effort to fight for survival this year. Glass states, that "absences by employees hurt this airline's ability to cope with the circumstances. He maintains that foul weather was the primary culprit in US Airways' failing during Christmas."
AFA can make no excuses for sick calls by folks who are not sick on any day, any holiday, in any year....however, the operation in Philadelphia has been a "fragile" operation on a daily bases since the downsizing of the PIT operation. Much of the holiday traffic used to go through Pittsburgh, but it turned into a "focus city" this past October. We had basically the exact same number of sick calls during the holiday. And on Christmas Eve we had even less than 2003.
One has to ask oneself...what happened in Philadelphia this holiday? And why did we fail the customer?
With PHL airport having one of the highest O/D traffic of any airport, coupled with an increase in holiday traffic, increase in bag transfers, same staffing levels that you have monthly that admittedly are lower than last year, add in some bad weather, along with holiday sick calls, and your set up for the "perfect storm".
This management was not prepared this year for running Philadelphia's holiday operation; a solo HUB on the east coast, with in climate weather, and keeping staffing at the same level as if it were a regular day. We still operate as a Hub and Spoke System, only thing is with such a large airline, we operate out of two hubs to connect the passengers and transfer the luggage. And I know that the "powers that be" didn't take these issues into consideration when staffing PHL and anticipating different scenarios that could create a "mishap".
By the Company's recent admission, the Company has taken the first step to improving relations between management and labor and shouldering some of the responsibility for the lack of foresight in anticipating increases in holiday travel through Philadelphia. As Jerry Glass admitted, "the Company considers the troubles of Christmas week a painful lesson that will be learned from".
There were tens of hundreds of volunteers throughout the system that went to PHL airport to assist with the holiday travel by providing the extra staffing desperately needed to handle this traffic.
This weekend we had no cancellations. In fact, we were able to carry hundreds of Comair (Delta Subsidiary) passengers through Philadelphia, due to their hundreds of cancellations.
With the 'black eye' Labor and the entire Company received this holiday, it will take a lot of concentrated effort to win the customers back and gain their trust. We will prove that we at USAirways CAN deliver. This endeavor is not insurmountable. It will just take some newly generated energy to rise above and meet the challenge.
Teddy
Xidas
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US
Airways: All out weekend effort to avoid repeat of service trouble
(This article can also be read here - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05002/436012.stm)
PHILADELPHIA -- US Airways managers skipped family gatherings and holiday football games yesterday to try to save their reeling company.
About 50 managers from around the country descended on Philadelphia International Airport, site of a poor performance by the airline during the Christmas weekend that infuriated countless passengers.
The worst of the trouble centered on Philadelphia International, where holiday travelers languished and up to 10,000 pieces of luggage accumulated, the owners nowhere in sight. As of yesterday, a few dozen bags had still not been returned to their owners.
Jerry Glass, senior vice president of employee relations who is based in Arlington, Va., strolled through Philadelphia International yesterday, trying to soothe upset customers and lift the spirits of some 1,400 regularly scheduled employees manning planes, gates and ticket counters.
Ralph Miller, a US Airways employee for 33 years, flew here from Washington, D.C., to help make New Year's Day smooth for travelers.
"We're just trying to get our reputation back," he said. "Anything to help the airline."
Miller was on vacation during the Christmas chaos. He said US Airways has been a good company to work for, so he volunteered for holiday duty without pay.
"I'd be home watching football," Miller said. "I decided it was more important to come to work."
The company's presence at Philadelphia International went far beyond the norm yesterday.
US Airways employees distributed complimentary coffee and chocolate cupcakes to travelers. Workers wore large name tags and tried to answer every travel-related question, even if it had nothing to do with the airline.
One older man wanted directions on how to hop a bus to the casino town of Atlantic City, N.J. Chris Sever, director of corporate affairs for US Airways, pointed him in the right direction.
"Anything to help," Sever said.
For some, the company's efforts to improve customer service are too late.
Drew Bendler, of Pennsauken, N.J., smoldered while waiting in a short line to inquire about his daughter's luggage, which was lost Dec. 23. This marked the second time US Airways lost her bags in 18 months, he said.
This time she sat on the tarmac for 90 minutes, apparently because the airline did not have sufficient staffing at entry gates. So Bendler ended up with an extra $38 fee for overtime parking in the short-term lot.
He asked US Airways to pay his parking bill, which he said will be his last request of the company.
"I'm done," he said. "I won't fly US Air again."
Unseasonably warm weather yesterday helped holiday travel go smoothly. So pleasant was the day that countless travelers arrived in T-shirts and bermuda shorts as the mercury rose to near 60 degrees.
Glass said the company considers the troubles of Christmas week a painful lesson that will be learned from, but not dwelled on.
"We're beyond that now," he said in an interview in the baggage claim area, where perhaps one customer in a thousand faced a snag yesterday. "Our focus is on the passenger, and on the operation."
Even with such pronouncements, employees readily admitted that they have work to do to regain the public's trust.
Glass said countless US Airways workers volunteered their time to help the company yesterday, mostly by delivering lost bags to customers.
Glass maintains that foul weather was the primary culprit in US Airways' failings during Christmas.
Comair, a Cincinnati-based carrier, canceled more than 1,000 flights. Many of those travelers were rebooked on US Airways and routed through Philadelphia International.
But, Glass said, absences by employees hurt his airline's ability to cope with the circumstances. Unionized employees countered that sick calls were no greater this holiday season than last.
The airline's parent company, US Airways Group Inc., is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. By alienating passengers during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, US Airways knows it increased its risk of failing.
As part of its fight for survival, US Airways cut its employment base during the past year, Glass said. So the percentage of people calling off this Christmas was greater than last, contributing to flight problems and passenger dissatisfaction.
During the past week, Glass said, the number of sick calls has declined. He likened US Airways to a building that is being reconstructed. Its flaws are apparent for all to see, Glass said, but he believes everybody is now motivated to rebuild US Airways.
"People whose heart and soul are in this company, and whose livelihood depends on this company, are doing all they can," he said.
The first day of the year turned into a breeze of airline efficiency. Today and tomorrow may be tougher tests, as more travelers fly home. US Airways expects 38,000 passengers to board flights in Philadelphia today. |
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