Posted on 12/27/2004 4:50:17 PM PST by Central Scrutiniser
Hot Flash - December 27, 2004
US Airways - One Small Job Action And A Giant Leap Toward Obscurity
All bets are now off. At US Airways, the situation is in doubt. Big time.
The employees at US Airways responsible for last weekend's sick-out and job action have achieved an enormous triumph in media attention. Matter of fact, the stories of thousands of travelers ready to go postal due to cancelled flights, long lines, and intentionally screwed up baggage, are all over the place. National TV. Newspapers. No telling, but Rush Limbaugh will probably be covering it.
Dig it, a tsunami just wiped out half of Southeast Asia, and the US Airways meltdown is running a close second as the top news story. Great work guys. Now the whole world knows about the plight of you and your company. You may have just put into motion the solution to all your problems with management. If the consumers respond as we may expect, you won't have management to deal with in a few months. Or a job, either.
Employee Pride Starts With Management & The Airline's Image. This is not to say that at the core, this wasn't a management problem. Aside from massive pay cuts and what appears to be an attitude that most of the airline's problems are due to employee issues, there hasn't been much coming from the top at US Airways.
They've even outdone United's ridiculous "Ted" scheme. (Go there - you may not believe something as cheap and cheesy could come from a professional airline.) http://www.gofaresguy.com/index.html It's some idiotic attempt at hip marketing called "Seth."
This "Seth" program makes US Airways look like a pack of amateurs just out of a Third World marketing class. It actually has some creature dressed (if you can call it that) like a punk rocker, complete with a spiked, orange-dyed hairdo and a Zoot Suit. Then they have this ambassador of bad taste run around Florida hyping US Airways in nursing homes (!) and shopping malls. If employees have little respect for management, it's examples of this type of amateur voodoo-marketing that causes it.
When you demand concessions from employees, the first and fundamental quid pro quo is having an aggressive plan to turn the company around. Gofares may sound good, but nobody's going to "go" if they know that employees are so angry at their company that they'll take it out on passengers. And it's pretty hard to get employees fired up when the company's spokesperson is some bozo dressed like a reject from a Halloween party.
But the fat's now in the fire. There are thousands of people who had their children's Christmas ruined - no, turned into a uncomfortable nightmare - because some US Airways employees took the dishonest path of lying about being sick, and others intentionally fouled up their customers' holiday plans. None of these passengers will forget this, and they won't forget US Airways, either. Nor will they fly the airline again.
These employee clowns may have sealed the fate of US Airways. The airline cannot suffer any material reduction in future revenue. But that may be in the cards.
Wonder if they'll make it to February.
(c) 2004, The Boyd Group/ASRC, Inc. All Rights Reserved
I have seen many many many stupid things in the airline industry, from Flight Attendants at Brannif wearing clear space helmets to Continental Light, Metrojet (Usairways cheap airline), Song (Delta's cheap airline) to Ted (United's ghastly cheap airline) and numerous shoddy attempts to have an all first class airline.
But 'Seth' is the dumbest, most inane, insulting joke of a promotion I've ever seen.
union mentality at its finest
Well, Seth is a product of a terrible marketing department run by 16 year old boys evidently.
So, USAirways crashes & burns as a business. Who cares? There's overcapacity in the airline industry that needs to be shead.
If these jobs are so bad, why did these morons apply for them in the first place? If these morons didn't realize how "bad" these jobs were when they accepted employment, then quit.
The people at US Airways obviously don't remember what happened at the late, great Eastern Airlines when *their* baggage handlers started calling the shots. There were lines shortly after that happened - at the the unemployment office.
Technically, 'USAir' is the dumbest, most inane, insulting joke of a "union has 'um by the ba11s" airline I've ever seen.
Notwithstanding the fact you're paying hundreds of dollars to become a federal prisoner, subject to unreasonable search and seizure, manhandled, poked, prodded, invaded, and abused, sc*ew them! I'll fly Southwest, and get a tiny bit more than I paid for, instead of much, much less.
The whole mobbed-up unionized airline structure has to be razed to the ground before there will be any improvement.
These are the people that robbed us of $15billion in bailout money after 9/11 and treat us worse than ever.
And the TSA can follow these turds down the toilet.
Yeah. Let's face it: despite holiday and vacation travel, the airline revenue base is business travel (unless the airline only flies to the Bahamas or Vegas, clothed or nude). Seth just cannot be the product of a rational mind attempting to save an airline.
Well put! I wish I had realized that the words "federal prisoner" apply, but they do. I will use that, with attribution, of course.
This action is called " Cutting off your nose to spite your face"
I am sorry that all employees of US Airways will suffer, but I think they just laid the straw that broke the camels back.
Another thing if I was one of them and looking for a job I wouldnt bother to give US Airways for a reference.
shut em down
Talk about a Pyrrhic victory. Pity US Air can't take the union to court over this. Oh, well. The last laugh will be on the union members. They deserve what they've got coming.
The 'national sickout' was the union's pathetic last act of self-destruction.
Who is going to book USAirways now?
US Airways may be at the bottom of the heap, but many other airlines aren't doing much better in the realm of customer service.
Some personal experience on recent trips...
Continental (Chicago to Houston): Flight attendant mocking and lip-synching to the pre-recorded safety instructions. With all the laughter, I'm sure no one heard all of the instructions. No big deal to frequent flyers, but not everyone on every flight has flown before. Filthy plane.
AirTran (Atlanta to Miami): 45 minute late departure... missing flight crew. Broken seat cushion on plane.
Airtran (Miami to Atlanta to Chicago): Had to de-plane in Atlanta although it was the same plane used for the connecting flight back to Chicago. Reason? Change of flight crew. Result? Late departure.... but my seat was still warm.
American Arlines & Alaska Air: (Chicago to San Francisco to Portland): Four hour late departure in Frisco due to mechanical failure (leg handled by Alaska Air). American had the wrong flight number on the itinerary.
United (at O'hare): On two occasions, 30 minute delays in de-planing due to part of the ground crew missing. There was no one there to dock the jetway.
On the other hand, I have no complaints with AirWest and Frontier.
Between all of the hassles with airlines routinely overbooking flights and bone-headed nonsense from braindead TSA agents, air travel is something I want to avoid these days.
While the TSA agents at Miami International already have a BAD REPUTATION, I recently had to restrain myself from decking a TSA IDIOT for groping my wife's breasts in full public view. The experience left my wife in tears.
Some airlines still advertise as if air travel is an exotic high-class experience. In reality, it's as classy and special as a ride on a public bus... complete with a broken seat. It's just another mode of transportation, except with TSA agents feeling up your privates in search of WMDs. In truth, the TSA's efforts are no threat to a real terrorist. These people with little more training than the average postal worker can't protect anyone. My sister-inlaw, a TSA agent, also agrees. Oh, the stories she can tell.....
USAirways just needs to go away. It will get rid of the over capacity in the airline industry and allow the healthier carriers to survive.
1. Let US airways die...enough bailout money has been given to the industry
2. Let the employees collect welfare...what a bunch of morons...having a "sick day" during the holiday season...selfish brats
3. These are simple market forces that have been unable to run in an efficient manner because of government intervention and union thugs...
Aren't these the jobs that Americans won't do but illegal immigrants will - for less pay and no benefits? We know they can get by the TSA (no profiling).
Yep, they have been terrible ever since they bought PSA and ruined that fine airline.
I'm real glad my airline didn't buy ATA, debt is bad.
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