This is just the publicity they need. :rolleyes:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8382303.htm

Several thoughts come to mind.

1. Castelveter did not beat around the bush. He acknowledged the problem and apologized. May not seem like a lot to most people, but it is a landmark change for CCY.

2. If US is better than average with baggage including PHL, then the rest of the system must be working very well.

3. TSA in Philly has been abysmal this winter and people are taking it out on Airways.

4. Behind schedule? There is a Philly mindset and this appears to be SOP. The next article will probably talk about how much the project is over budget.

5. Many of Airways problems are self-induced. Some are a matter of perception. The airline appears to be doing little to combat either source of discontent.

6. The front line employees are hanging in better than many people would, but the morale problem is increasing geometrically.

If there is any hope at all for this company, they must first solve the problem at PHL. It needs a "Czar", with extraordinary authority to fix things. Since such an individual would exhibit more ability than may presently be available at the northern Virginia braintrust, such a fix is likely out of the question. Thus, management continues to be in denial, while in Texas, visions of sugar plums and easy pickings dance through the heads of Southwest Airlines planners. Incidentally, there turns out to be no truth to the recent story about a guy checking his mother-in-law as baggage via Philly, in a failed attempt to be sure he never saw her again. Seems she was located in the trunk of a TSA guy's car, with some other things he "found on the floor."

I think the PHL attitude is the issue and I dont think it is fixable. I think the mistake was having a hub at that place. I just dont see the people there caring. Too many times to remember I have been essentially abandoned there through someone simply not doing something to prevent it. The last time was when I was one of a lot of people coming in very late (about 90 minutes) from Paris. They knew we were coming for what 8 hours, they knew everyone would be late for their connections and they did nothing substantial to help people. They had two people with clipboards waiting after customs to tell people they would miss their connections. They could have had a few carts to take people to their gates. It would have saved money since they wouldnt have to deal with all the misconnects. But no, they did nothing and that is so typical of US in PHL. They had about 8 hours to say we have however many hundred people coming in late, this many are sure misses, this many we need to have carts for, this many we will be okay with and so forth. But no one in charge expected that would be done and saw that it happened. Thats how you win customers, not by ignoring them after you get their money.