As an employee of US Airways, this is one of just a few times I will feel the need to throw in my two-cents worth on this site since I do believe this site is primarily for our customers. I know I will be cut apart from every direction but hopefully anyone who is half-way open minded will see my point.

For those who are so upset that we may take away some first class seats, who can't get ugrades and whose miles are worthless because you can't book a free seat to Hawaii over Christmas, please here me out.

US Airways is a business. We have an obligation to our board of directors, our stock holders and to our employees to make a profit and show a return on investment.

Please think for a moment about your own company and the product you sell. How happy would you be knowing that what you produced made no money for your company, but like a good employee you took pay cut after pay cut to make up the difference; you sacrificed benefits and a pension; lost your 401K; was forced to relocate; and saw friends and family laid off around you?

Yet all the while, through all the sacrafice, your boss just kept giving away the store, handing out the freebies and sticking with the same old failed business plan, all because he was afraid of losing some customers? How pleasant would that make your life? It would make you miserable.

Does anyone see my point yet? What good are loyal customers if you can't make money and employees are forced to pay the price. What good is Independence Air right now?

Our management at US Airways is being responsible and they are doing what needs to be done to turn a profit. They have a formula and they've seen it work. If this formula that makes money happens to drive away some customers who don't like it, and they run to a competitor, should we be sorry? Maybe but maybe not.

We won't be sorry for too long anyway because I truly believe we have found a way to make money with or without them. Let our competitors deal with them now as they continue to lose money. Or maybe they'll stick with us and see the benefits of a successful, expanding company with happy employees and a good product that delivers what a majority of customers really want and not just what the elite want.

The status qou is no longer an option no matter how bad you want it to be or think it should be. At least not for a new US Airways. Our leadership finally has the right plan, the right direction -- to be accountable to their employees. Even Southwest follows this plan -- employees first.

As you repeated a few times, we are customers and then we have a choice. Why I would fly all my 150 000 +/- a year on them on a declining product when I can fly other airlines that offer more advantages to their frequent flyer and are still able to be in a better financial situation than US? US is in that position mainly because of bad business choices, not because it is rewarding frequent travellers.

If there were no customers, there would be no airline.

Thoughtful, good post and some interesting points.

For the most part, I agree with you. All those who don't like the changes do have choices. US hardly has a monopoly, with few rural exceptions. It just shocks and even bores me how much energy and time is used up by some at being angry and pissed off.

Thanks for the thoughts. We couldn't go anywhere without the employees, and I appreciate you sharing a different perspective with us.

I have met very few US employees who were not friendly good people. I agree, make the company better any way you can.

The suggestions on this board are often ranting and raving, but as an employee of the company, look at them not as all negative, but as suggestions for improvement.

Sometimes, in the middle of an insult or an outright tirade, people say things that actually make sense, or lean towards making sense. If you can wipe off the sarcasm, rudeness and elitism, you (the employee wanting to improve the company), can often find an idea that maybe got overlooked, but now seeing it through someone elses eyes, it makes sense. Maybe there is a better idea for boarding aircraft, or constant problems on a particular route that are now brought to light.

True, no one wants to be subjected to insults and negativism all the time, but if you can look past that, sometimes it is worth it in the long run.

I wish US Airways employees the best, and sympathize with their struggles over the last few years. I think all your customers recognize that a company has to be profitable. You think we want employees and shareholders to suffer? Of course not. I don't want to fly a bankrupt airline.

However, if you do not think loyal customers are important to a business, pretty soon you won't have any. Maybe you'll do better that way, but in the long run, I doubt it.

Loyalty programs bring in revenue. I spend a lot on US Airways. Eight out of ten trips I take are on US, and most of the rest are on UA, a partner. In fact, I could save some money by switching some of my flights to other carriers. I have two US Airways credit cards. I buy a club membership. Why do I pay more than I have to? To get the loyalty benefits. The point is that "free" seats are not free. "Free" upgrades are not free. The store is not being "given away." A upgraded first class seat may not cost me the same amount as a ticket in the F fare class, but when all the costs are considered, it costs more than a coach ticket.

If it weren't for the FF benefits that are in the process of being cut, I would have given up on US long ago. A little story: the closest I came to not being loyal to US was after the Xmas meltdown at PHL, when US stranded me and thousands of others (for no good reason!) as we were on our way to visit family for the holidays. I was seriously upset: any other business treated me that way would have lost me as a customer for a very long time. But at the time, I had Gold status on US and no status on any other airline. That status and the advantages it brings are the *only* reasons I spent another dollar on US Airways. Since that time, I've flown more than ever, spent more than ever, and have earned CP status. US gets my money today only because I had Gold status in Dec 2004. That's what loyalty programs do.

I suspect that frequent flyers like many of us here at FT are one of the reasons US Airways is still around at all. Perhaps loyal customers are not important now that business is good, but wait until the next downturn.... we'll see.

All this doesn't excuse all the, uh, negativity that sometimes one sees on this board. But please don't think of us frequent flyers or our DM benefits as the problem.

Good luck to you.

Please think for a moment about your own company and the product you sell. How happy would you be knowing that what you produced made no money for your company, but like a good employee you took pay cut after pay cut to make up the difference; you sacrificed benefits and a pension; lost your 401K; was forced to relocate; and saw friends and family laid off around you?

Yet all the while, through all the sacrafice, your boss just kept giving away the store, handing out the freebies and sticking with the same old failed business plan, all because he was afraid of losing some customers? How pleasant would that make your life? It would make you miserable.

Does anyone see my point yet? What good are loyal customers if you can't make money and employees are forced to pay the price. What good is Independence Air right now?
.

And this is different from the IT world or the domestic car company world, or the large telecommunications world how exactly? The airline business is flawed largely because a majority of the employees actually believe they are "worth" the salaries thrown their way in the 80s and 90s. A "market correction" was inevitable and unfortunately, hit hard over the last 4+ years. I am sympathetic to airline employees ... but NO more sypathetic to an employee of US or UA than I am an employe of Nortel or JDS or my company (which just laid off 10% of its workforce). Market conditions set wages ... a lot of people are willing to hand out coke and pretzels in the air, and make reservations for people for $15 / hour. If you've given too much, find a job which pays as much as you feel you're worth. I hope I don't sound so cold, but it gets a little tiring listening to all these airline employees griping about their concessions ... kind of like it gets tiring for all the employees listening to pax. complaining about the diminished F class product, award ticket availability, etc. etc. (ironic isn't it?).

I understand your point, and I completely agree that sometimes the negativity and complaining on this board gets out of hand - and I'm by no way saying I'm innocent myself.

What must be realized is that there is a happy medium that US Airways has to achieve. I understand that by giving away too much, they lose money, but by not having any perks, they lose customers, and lose money.

My own business/personal travel exclusively on US Airways has led me or my company to spend more than $5400 since June 1 of this year. I also use a US Airways credit card exclusively, and have had status for several years. I'm sure the tens of thousands of dollars I've spent (or my company has spent) were welcomed by US during the two bankrupcies. So you must understand that I disagree with you when you say I shouldn't complain about not getting upgraded or not getting enough "free stuff." My upgrades are hardly free.

That being said, you are correct that it would be wrong to just continue to give away more and more things and lose money that way. But you'll notice that very few posts on this board are expecting new perks - we're just upset that the few that survived the two bankrupcies are now being taken away even though the airline is relatively healthy.

I'm not asking for more F seats - I'm just asking for them to keep the ones they've got. I'm not asking for a higher bonus, I'm just asking for the 100% GP bonus I've always gotten. I'm not asking for even more miles when purchasing a Y fare - I just want to continue to be rewarded for spending $1200 on a last minute EWR-TRI trip with a few more miles than I would have gotten for spending $400 a few weeks earlier on the identical seat.

Also, I applaud the new employee-centered vision (ala Southwest) you describe at US. For too long have the employees - of many airlines - been stamped out. But - where would employees be without loyal customers like myself who are enticed and given incentive to buy full Y tickets every week? Saying "let them go to other airlines" is hardly a sound business decision.

I also beg to differ with this line.. "expanding company with happy employees and a good product that delivers what a majority of customers really want and not just what the elite want." What good are happy employees with no customers? And should you really be impressing the majority of your customers - or the majority of your spenders? I hate to say it - but what the elite want is what makes them make up such a huge chunk of your revenue. There's a reason why many MANY airlines are spending a ton upgrading their C and F cabins, clubs etc. while leaving coach be or downgrading it.

It's always nice reading and employee' point of view! Thanks for posting.

There is a point to what you're saying, however, some of the choices and cuts in frequent flier perks result in short term gains but long term losses. There are a number of other issues which have not or will not be addressed which could enhance the revenue situation without affecting those passengers who fly US regularly. In many cases the management of this and other airlines have been penny wise and pound foolish to a degree.

First of all, we need RATIONAL fares. Now note I don't say LOW fares, I say RATIONAL fares. The airline industry is one of the only ones I know of which does not price in relation to cost. Current yield management systems are flawed. Everyone understands that the airlines need to make money, or at the very least break even. Adding a bunch of $49-$99 fares in high volume markets is going to almost guarantee the opposite. On the other hand, $1000 LGA-CLT last minute is an outrage. While there are some that will continue to pay outrageous fares for last minute travel, there are more and more who won't. They will either not take the trip, drive, or go to another airline. RATIONAL fares work-it's been proven. Look at HP before the merger--they were profitable and had rational fares. They weren't always the lowest but they did compete successfully against WN. And guess what? AVERAGE fares paid go up, meaning more profits. It has been said elsewhere that the top 18-20% of frequent fliers at airlines contribute up to 40-45% of revenue. So it's really smart to tick off those 18-20%--in fact based on recent and rumored changes ie. F seating, mileage bonuses, etc., it looks like they're gunning for us. PERCEPTION is REALITY to most people, and even if not true, if it looks that way it is to the customer.

Now you might want to chop my head off for saying this because I am truly an advocate of the rank and file employee, but it is true that SOME positions were truly overpaid for a bit there in the 80's and 90's. While I believe the industry may have overcorrected somewhat in terms of current wages, it also goes back to issues of productivity and workrules, which to a large degree have not been addressed. Working hard is not the same as working smart--and in many cases some airline employees do neither because of outdated union rules. This is not exclusive to US, by the way, but it is a part of the equation.

The bottom line is that we do have a choice. While some of the changes do make some sense, to take and take from the frequent flier who pays the bills without giving anything back sends the wrong message--high yield regular fliers not wanted. Eventually we'll get the hint, and it might take up 10 itinerant travelers to make up the revenue lost by one elite leaving. My annual spend is approximately $35-50K a year in air travel, 99% of which has been on US over the past 6 years. Take a few thousand of me, and what could you lose? Is it worth it?

My best to you and your colleagues, because YOU guys and gals are the main if not only reason that so many of us stuck around.

80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers. You have people spending big bucks with airlines for business travel. Paying full fare for trips to EU, and w/n the US. Now it is your choice as an airline to provide adequate service to these big spenders, or you can let them go to United. Personally, I think that catering to a person that spends $7K for a ticket to London makes sense. I don't mean foot massages, but decent food, clean planes and seats that work. It is SO easy to make a decent product, and it will not cost much more. This incldues the 757's, it is ridiculous they only have 8 FC seats for the amount of trips they run.

So, to use your point, imagine if comany ABC that we worked for IGNORED the desires of the largest and most lucrative customers, where would you be? Out of a job . . . .

I only hope Airbus will give LCC $90 Million every quarter so you can turn a proffit. Should be interesting to see what happens this quarter.

My perception is as follows . . .

US AIR = United/AA/Continental Pricing + Rayn AIR Service.

Thanks,

William

As someone who's flown UA only a few times lately, I don't see much of a difference between US and UA in Y (E- on UA). In fact, one of the worst flights of my life was on UA (being crammed into E- for BOS-SFO). Besides a better FC (and better is all relative, some people don't care about drinking out of plastic cups) and ignoring the SWUs/CP level, what other real in-flight features are better on UA?

Thanks for your all your great responses. Please don't get me wrong, I do want to see our most loyal customers stick with us. I'm not in favor of cheapening our service. I truly wish we could give you everything you want. I, like my fellow employees, are only trying to deal with the reality of our industry. We are placing trust in our leadership that they know what they are doing. Trust me, I know I have my job because of our customers.

Remember, our managers are trying to find a business model that can sustain consistent profitability, through the good times and the bad times. We need a company that can weather the dramatic shifts in the economy and world events without constantly giving and then just taking away. I only hope we can find that happy medium and we can all enjoy the benefits of a healthy company.

I also want to address those who seem to think that as employees of an airline that if we don't like our jobs that we should just quit. You say our salaries were way too high. This is a typical attitude of the snobs in corporate America. Corporate greed is out of hand and it is CEO salaries that are way too high.

This attitude that the workers in America should just be thankful to have a job really stinks. I happen to love what I do. If business travel is part of your job and it sucks so bad then you quit your job. Try living a decent life in one of our bases in Washington DC, Boston or NYC on less than $30,000 a year. It's pretty damn tough. Hell, you can barely get by in these cities on $50,000 a year.

You want a good idea of what kind of people will work for sub-standard wages and benefits? The next time you are upset at the level of customer service at your gate or ticket counter, think about what that new person is making. But according to some of you, that's exactly what we deserve. So I guess that's what you deserve and should expect.

You can thank your unions for the out of whack pay. There's no way someone based in, say, Altoona, should make the same as someone based in DC - but that's what the contract calls for. It's just irrational.

We could also talk about pay based on seniority rather than competence and experience. A great thing if you never need/want to change companies. Unfortunately, it also means that most of you CAN'T leave because you'd start over again at the bottom of the barrel. Again, that's stupid. Why should a CSR with 10 years experience have to start at the bottom? Same for a pilot or an FA. Again, thank your union.

There's no doubt that some executive pay is way out of line. But really, it's not as pervasive as many think. Consider the risk of being a CEO. Let's say a middle manager manipulates financial statements and doesn't get caught. Doug certifies those statements as required by SOX based on information available to him. Then the employee gets caught, the financials are inaccurate and the CEO is looking at massive fines and/or jail time. Quite a risk.

Some customers are better than other customers. Some frequent customers (who pay higher fares) are better than other frequent customers (who pay very low fares). Orwellian? Perhaps!

However, if I pay $198 to fly from PHX-SEA several times a year, I'm simply not worth as much to US as someone who pays $698 to fly from PHX-SEA several times a year. At times, it may make sense for US to deny me the $198 fare in order to retain a seat for a potential $698 customer. Therefore, I might have to fly AS or WN a couple of times per year.

That's the reality of the business. Sometimes I have to "fire" low value customers and essentially say, "Take a competitor's flight!" While we don't necessarily like that, it is the essence of Revenue Management, which says that the airline needs to maximize the revenue of each seat sold -- and ultimately make a profit.

As someone who's flown UA only a few times lately, I don't see much of a difference between US and UA in Y (E- on UA). In fact, one of the worst flights of my life was on UA (being crammed into E- for BOS-SFO). Besides a better FC (and better is all relative, some people don't care about drinking out of plastic cups) and ignoring the SWUs/CP level, what other real in-flight features are better on UA?

Channel 9, baby. Channel 9.

sdlevi, you completely miss UA's best feature: E+. If I can't get upgraded on US (which will happen a lot more often if they pull F out of the A321s) I'll be moving all my transcon flying over to UA because at least I'll get Economy Plus.

sdlevi, you completely miss UA's best feature: E+. If I can't get upgraded on US (which will happen a lot more often if they pull F out of the A321s) I'll be moving all my transcon flying over to UA because at least I'll get Economy Plus.

Oh no, I fully know about E+. UA E+ beats anything US has hands-down (except exit rows, I guess).

I was just comparing US Y with UA E-. Besides Ch 9 I don't see much of a difference there (same lack of food and entertainment), in fact from my experience (being 6'2") I think there's more legroom in US Y than UA E- (until the reconfig this winter, of course).

Yes, I agree, E- is nothing special. But I haven't gotten stuck in E- since I became elite, knock on wood. Assuming they drop to 16 seats in the A321 F-cabin, I'd much rather take the near-guaranteed E+ seat instead of playing the US upgrade roulette.

As someone who's flown UA only a few times lately, I don't see much of a difference between US and UA in Y (E- on UA). In fact, one of the worst flights of my life was on UA (being crammed into E- for BOS-SFO). Besides a better FC (and better is all relative, some people don't care about drinking out of plastic cups) and ignoring the SWUs/CP level, what other real in-flight features are better on UA?

OK, if you take out the UA E+, poor US FC, and FF program - nope, not much left to compare on. However, if you compare a Yugo with a BMW and don't allow comparisons between the engine, comforts, etc... you're left with something that gets you from point A to point B - just like US and UA.

The airline industry is certainly an interesting one. When airlines were regulated and they could only charge $X to go from point A to point B, we saw both inflated costs as well as inflated expectations as airlines competed on service and perks (hence the invention of the FF program).

I know that US hammered their employees through two bankruptcies with a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. Unfortunately for the employees, with air travel shrinking after 9/11 there wasn’t much choice. There was too much supply of pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and the rest of the staff and too little demand. Many employees who loved and wanted to continue to work in the industry were simply forced out to do something else. US actually may have been a leader, heading through bankruptcy early, lowering costs and foisting their pension obligations on PBGC. Later airlines may see greater push back from Congress and regulators.

I can see why US employees and management is trying to push the pain down to customers. However, the same game plan: “like it or leave it”, may not work. Customers, remember, have greater flexibility. Unlike a job, a frequent flyer’s business is being sought after on a daily basis. Changing their carrier simply involves clicking on a different “buy” button. There is still plenty of supply (seats) chasing the demand (customers).

Trust me, I stuck around with US through thick and thin, and it was the employees that kept me there and management that drove me away through a death of a thousand cuts. I can certainly sympathize with you and all US employees, but I do have a choice and as a CP who is now a UA 1K, when it came to “like it or leave it”, I left it.

US Airways is a business. We have an obligation to our board of directors, our stock holders and to our employees to make a profit and show a return on investment.

Yes, US needs to make a profit. The strategy to do this is now to become the Greyhound in the skies. A no frills, bare bones, commodity product.

Most of the folks here are very frequent fliers who grew up with an airline that had a different business model. I remember the sundae cart on transcons. Real meals served with real utensils. Clean planes. Etc. etc. Are you surprised that those accostomed to this product now get what they get.

Suppose BMW introduced a new 2-series vehicle. And it looked/handled/was constructed just like a Dodge Caliber. Don't you think the BMW forums would be gong crazy over what the company was doing? (and to make the analogy real - imaging they tried charging $28K for it. Catera, anyone? Cimmaron?)

I've gotten over the hand-wringing over what my favorite airline has become. You're now just another commodity carrier. If you go where I need, cheapest, I'll fly you. I won't go out of my way as I used to. I don't actively track my DM balance. I don't go through the route maps figuring where I want to go on vacation next.

I've been CP ever since the program was invented. And Priority Plus before that. This year I currently have X miles (X is a low number, but I can't get your piece-of-junk website to load right now). In the past I would have wondered how I can rack up some miles (and spend some $$$) to re-qualify. Now I don't really care.

If you can pick up Ma and Pa once-a-year traveller to make up for turning away your most loyal customers, feel free. You seem to be drinking the Kool-aid. Just don't expect us to stick there with you.

OK, if you take out the UA E+, poor US FC, and FF program - nope, not much left to compare on. However, if you compare a Yugo with a BMW and don't allow comparisons between the engine, comforts, etc... you're left with something that gets you from point A to point B - just like US and UA.

Another BIG UA advantage is being able to fly standby for LATER flights and to make standby changes BY PHONE. On a business trip, if a meeting runs late, which airline would I rather be on, if on UA I could have my secretary call UA and pay $25 to get a later flight or if on US I'd have to pay a fare difference plus a $100 change fee and be stressed out while running to the airport to make that change in person?

Plus UA will soon be offering the ability to use UA miles to upgrade on some other Star Alliance airlines. For international travelers, that could be big. UA also offers standby without a problem between LGA/JFK and some othere co-terminals; when I try do that on US I almost always have a problem, as UA's fare rules specifically allow that change while US's are more vague.

That US lacks these things is not important for Joe Traveler but E+ plus the standby flexibility means I take UA whenever possible, and the Star Alliance upgrades are a nice benefit.

So to the OP- these things might be seen as away freebies, but these kinds of benefits help attract more revenue to UA. Similarly, look at Bank of America's "Keep the Change" program, giving people small deposits in their bank accounts for using BofA's debit cards. It costs BofA some money, probably, but could generate new business.