Sad to watch - Terminal B priority/first check in at PHL
Sep 12, 2014, 4:56 pm
#31
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 54
PHL regional culture may be an issue but the principal cause here is no doubt the HR incompetence at US. Everywhere in the country, they hire people with no empathy.
I once tweeted to US a compliment for a particular gate agent. In 140 characters I did not provide rationale, but really it was that I made a request and she fulfilled it without yelling at me.
I once tweeted to US a compliment for a particular gate agent. In 140 characters I did not provide rationale, but really it was that I made a request and she fulfilled it without yelling at me.
Sep 12, 2014, 6:45 pm
#32
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 42
US at PHL has the worst staff of any airline, any airport, anywhere I've ever traveled in my entire life. Period. It isn't even close. (Yes, I realize I just +1'ed 90% of the posts here.)
It's not a regional thing. I've traveled to other airports in the northeastern U.S., including all of the New York, DC, and Boston area airports as well as a bunch of small ones. None are as bad as Philly.
It's not their union. I've interacted with counter and gate agents for US Airways in other places, working under the same contract as these Philly people, and they are not as bad as Philly. (The US people at MCI are borderline nice - it's a bit jarring.) Even other US hub operations are not as bad as Philly. I've never had an issue at CLT.
It's not Philadelphia itself. Other interactions with travel industry professionals in the area are much better than dealing with US Airways. Nobody says "Gawd, I can't stand any of the Marriotts in Philly...the clerks are all awful."
This is a US Airways PHL problem - one poisonous culture. Although the TSA seems pretty jacked up there too, so maybe it's two poisonous cultures. Anyway, it's not a Big Labor problem or an "all northeasterners are jerks" problem. It's US's problem.
It's not a regional thing. I've traveled to other airports in the northeastern U.S., including all of the New York, DC, and Boston area airports as well as a bunch of small ones. None are as bad as Philly.
It's not their union. I've interacted with counter and gate agents for US Airways in other places, working under the same contract as these Philly people, and they are not as bad as Philly. (The US people at MCI are borderline nice - it's a bit jarring.) Even other US hub operations are not as bad as Philly. I've never had an issue at CLT.
It's not Philadelphia itself. Other interactions with travel industry professionals in the area are much better than dealing with US Airways. Nobody says "Gawd, I can't stand any of the Marriotts in Philly...the clerks are all awful."
This is a US Airways PHL problem - one poisonous culture. Although the TSA seems pretty jacked up there too, so maybe it's two poisonous cultures. Anyway, it's not a Big Labor problem or an "all northeasterners are jerks" problem. It's US's problem.
Sep 12, 2014, 9:20 pm
#33
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 462
Always so sad to hear about that 
. I think as frequent flyers it's always nice for us to step up and help people who are confused, especially the elderly. I was behind the sweetest lady in a security line last year, probably 70, who had never flown before, and was going to see her first grandchild graduate, I was more than happy to walk her through it....if it was my grandma I'd want someone to do the same. We shouldn't NEED to do it (employees should be willing to step up) but a few minutes of kindness are always appreciated for far longer than the amount of time it takes us, whether it's helping the elderly, a first time mom loaded with baby and gear, anything.
. I think as frequent flyers it's always nice for us to step up and help people who are confused, especially the elderly. I was behind the sweetest lady in a security line last year, probably 70, who had never flown before, and was going to see her first grandchild graduate, I was more than happy to walk her through it....if it was my grandma I'd want someone to do the same. We shouldn't NEED to do it (employees should be willing to step up) but a few minutes of kindness are always appreciated for far longer than the amount of time it takes us, whether it's helping the elderly, a first time mom loaded with baby and gear, anything.
Sep 12, 2014, 9:29 pm
#34
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: American Airlines Executive Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 140
A few months ago I had a wonderful agent at the gate in PHL & I was hopeful that things had turned around there. Unfortunately, I've come to find that it is hit or miss.
A few weeks ago I went go 1st/preferred checkin at B to ask to move up from 8:40 pm flight to 3:50 pm flight. At first, the agent kept repeating, "your booked flight isn't until 8:40." I kept agreeing with her & pointing out that the flight I wanted to move go was 5 hours earlier which is within the 6 hours allowed. She seemed very confused.
After she finally agreed to look at it, she gave me a center seat in the very back. I told her I was exit row eligible (knowing that on MCO flights they are often looking for people for exit row). She said there were plenty of exit row seats available, but I'd have to pay $60. I reminded her of my CP status & she kept saying that I had to pay if I wanted the seat. Then she finally said she'd try to do it but would probably have to get a supervisor (I said that was fine & I'd wait for one if necessary). Surprise, surprise...the boarding pass printed right out without paying.
When I checked the upgrade list on my phone (@ the gate) I found she had not put me on the list. A wonderful, pleasant & helpful supervisor immediately added me and apologized repeatedly. He was upset to learn about what had happened with the exit row seat too--his comment was "please tell me that was not at this airport."
On a sided note...the staff at Avis at PHL is consistently great!
A few weeks ago I went go 1st/preferred checkin at B to ask to move up from 8:40 pm flight to 3:50 pm flight. At first, the agent kept repeating, "your booked flight isn't until 8:40." I kept agreeing with her & pointing out that the flight I wanted to move go was 5 hours earlier which is within the 6 hours allowed. She seemed very confused.
After she finally agreed to look at it, she gave me a center seat in the very back. I told her I was exit row eligible (knowing that on MCO flights they are often looking for people for exit row). She said there were plenty of exit row seats available, but I'd have to pay $60. I reminded her of my CP status & she kept saying that I had to pay if I wanted the seat. Then she finally said she'd try to do it but would probably have to get a supervisor (I said that was fine & I'd wait for one if necessary). Surprise, surprise...the boarding pass printed right out without paying.
When I checked the upgrade list on my phone (@ the gate) I found she had not put me on the list. A wonderful, pleasant & helpful supervisor immediately added me and apologized repeatedly. He was upset to learn about what had happened with the exit row seat too--his comment was "please tell me that was not at this airport."
On a sided note...the staff at Avis at PHL is consistently great!
Sep 12, 2014, 10:34 pm
#35
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHL
Programs: AA - Plat, HHonors - Diamond, IHG - Plat, Marriott - Gold, National - Exec, Amtrak - Select, NEXUS
Posts: 1,075
I'm waiting for someone to report that US employees at PHL threw snowballs full of batteries at Santa Claus.
I'd say I'm 50/50 on good/bad US employee interactions at PHL (excluding Clubs, where I'm 100% good). Terminal F'ed is where I'm most likely to see poor behavior. I see way too much standing around at work stations (gate desks, shuttle queue gates in A and C) and gawking at cell phones for my liking throughout the airport.
As with any situation of systematic poor employee performance, the root causes are hiring practices, training, rule enforcement, and management accountability. In that if you accept too little at hiring or don't pay enough to attract good employees, don't tell the employees how to do their job properly (see story regarding MoveUp and "exit seat fees" for a CP), allow employees to violate policy, and fail to penalize superiors for the failures of their subordinates you get a culture of crap.
I'd say I'm 50/50 on good/bad US employee interactions at PHL (excluding Clubs, where I'm 100% good). Terminal F'ed is where I'm most likely to see poor behavior. I see way too much standing around at work stations (gate desks, shuttle queue gates in A and C) and gawking at cell phones for my liking throughout the airport.
As with any situation of systematic poor employee performance, the root causes are hiring practices, training, rule enforcement, and management accountability. In that if you accept too little at hiring or don't pay enough to attract good employees, don't tell the employees how to do their job properly (see story regarding MoveUp and "exit seat fees" for a CP), allow employees to violate policy, and fail to penalize superiors for the failures of their subordinates you get a culture of crap.
Sep 17, 2014, 10:48 am
#36
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Charlotte
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum Elite, AA Platinum Pro, Hertz Presidents
Posts: 1,214
I think I'm reading it just fine. You said that the problem is the "pervasiveness of the union mentality". Which means that the "union mentality" itself is inherently the actual problem, and that problem is exacerbated due to its degree of existence in the Philly market. However that argument is fallacious because unions are equally prevalent (synonym for pervasive) at all airports given the national nature of unions. So your attribution of an outcome to the pervasiveness of something that is omnipresent and thus by definition equally pervasive in all places does not hold water.
And yes my first post was a bit of an affront, but your attribution of a uniform, undesirable mentality and work ethic to anyone and everyone associated with organized labor was a shot across the bow. I am not a "union sympathizer" but I think that organized labor came to be for a good reason and there are plenty of good, hardworking people in unionized industries so that generalization was unfair and, to many, offensive.
I would argue that pretty much the only isolated variable here is geography and local culture.
And yes my first post was a bit of an affront, but your attribution of a uniform, undesirable mentality and work ethic to anyone and everyone associated with organized labor was a shot across the bow. I am not a "union sympathizer" but I think that organized labor came to be for a good reason and there are plenty of good, hardworking people in unionized industries so that generalization was unfair and, to many, offensive.
I would argue that pretty much the only isolated variable here is geography and local culture.
Walk down the sidewalk hit a bump, ---it's those unions..
Two people blowing their horns in a traffic kerfuffle, yep, it's the pervasiveness of the unions....
Not every malady of the world is the fault of unions.
Just my opinion...
Cheers!
Sep 17, 2014, 11:34 am
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
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Posts: 52,574
Sep 17, 2014, 11:42 am
#38
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 702
At PHL, I have experienced that at the gate when first boarding is called, the gate agents often have a constant hiss of "this is board for FIRST/ENVOY class...." over and over again as if we obviously are trying to sneak in and/or couldn't possibly be travelling in that cabin. It hasn't happened (yet) in CLT, just PHL.
I think many of the employees are so used to saying no (in one manner or other) it have become habit.
Its not just the gate agents, a FA asked my husband several times "are you stupid or deaf?" before shouting it at him on a recent flight from PHL to SJU. We were in first and my husband was escorting our son to his seat and she was pissed that he went down the near aisle instead of the far aisle. I had half a mind to get her name and send an email but we were starting on vacation and didn't want to make a fuss.
On the bright side, I have seen FAs go out of their way to help passengers that needed it.
Sep 17, 2014, 8:56 pm
#39
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Philly
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 200
PHL is my home airport now as well. I've been living there for 13 years, and I think it really is just the city and the culture. It's not just US Airways, the TSA agents are not great, but the service that they use to direct people to the security lines is the absolute worst. Most airports the people are assertive, yet courteous. In PHL, they just yell at you. My wife was threatened by three of them because she muttered something about not knowing where to go. They thought she muttered something about them, and they ganged up on her. I had to step over and get a TSA agent involved to back them up. It's terrible that I feel that it's a good day when I'm not yelled at at some point in my process from check-in to boarding.
Sep 17, 2014, 9:07 pm
#40
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 대한민국 (South Korea) - ex-PVG (上海)
Programs: UA MM / LT Gold (LT UC), DL SM, AA PLT (AC), OZ, KE; GE and Korean SES (like GE); Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,995
Not every malady of the world is the fault of unions.
Sep 18, 2014, 8:44 am
#41
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
The agents at Philly invented their own rule that you have to carry your own checked baggage to oversize. Things like car seats and such. I hate to say it as a Philly native, but US Airways should have built the fortress hub anywhere but PHL.
I went from ~40k EQM on US last year to roughly 2500 (5 paid segments) this year. I'd attribute half of that to US screwing up an award royally and the other half to not wanting to deal with their customer service in general. None of those 5 paid segments went to/through PHL, and that was absolutely on purpose. I did fly to Philly a handful of times this year on US on Avios, only because it's a direct flight from PWM and I was going to Philly, but I avoid spending my money there as much as possible.
I've mostly flown AS and DL this year, not because I love DL but because I can credit my miles to AS. AS has ridiculously good customer service, on the phone and at the airport. DL is clear step above US on the people I've interacted with as well (including the contracted services DL provides to AS at BOS). Airline consolidation isn't going to encourage AA/US to step up, but at this point the only domestic airline whose customer service I perceive as worse than US is UA - excluding Spirit and Frontier because I've never flown them.
I went from ~40k EQM on US last year to roughly 2500 (5 paid segments) this year. I'd attribute half of that to US screwing up an award royally and the other half to not wanting to deal with their customer service in general. None of those 5 paid segments went to/through PHL, and that was absolutely on purpose. I did fly to Philly a handful of times this year on US on Avios, only because it's a direct flight from PWM and I was going to Philly, but I avoid spending my money there as much as possible.
I've mostly flown AS and DL this year, not because I love DL but because I can credit my miles to AS. AS has ridiculously good customer service, on the phone and at the airport. DL is clear step above US on the people I've interacted with as well (including the contracted services DL provides to AS at BOS). Airline consolidation isn't going to encourage AA/US to step up, but at this point the only domestic airline whose customer service I perceive as worse than US is UA - excluding Spirit and Frontier because I've never flown them.
Sep 18, 2014, 1:23 pm
#42
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: PHL
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AA Gold, FB Gold, ITA Volare Executive
Posts: 3,294
As with any situation of systematic poor employee performance, the root causes are hiring practices, training, rule enforcement, and management accountability. In that if you accept too little at hiring or don't pay enough to attract good employees, don't tell the employees how to do their job properly (see story regarding MoveUp and "exit seat fees" for a CP), allow employees to violate policy, and fail to penalize superiors for the failures of their subordinates you get a culture of crap.
Sep 18, 2014, 2:32 pm
#43
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP 1.0mm, not sure where I am with hotels these days
Posts: 2,795
I just moved out of Philly after 12 years. It's not just the airport staff - it's an angry city and it takes leaving it to fully realize it. After a while, you just start to believe that's just how the world is, but stepping away makes you realize that it's the way Philly is. Employees at banks, CVS, PGW, City Hall (just to pick a few) can all be just as bad. Tutting, sighing, snapping, rolling of eyes, yelling, doing the absolute bare minimum - there are people in Philly that take pride in that behavior - customer service or not. Just take a walk around Center City and listen to how people talk to each other.
To the OP's original point - I always go out of my way to help out a confused senior citizen - especially at airports. It's not easy for them. I'd hope that someone would help my own father/mother - even me - one day.
To the OP's original point - I always go out of my way to help out a confused senior citizen - especially at airports. It's not easy for them. I'd hope that someone would help my own father/mother - even me - one day.
Sep 19, 2014, 4:27 pm
#44
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: PHL and LAS
Programs: AA PLT Pro, Marriott Lifetime PLT
Posts: 144
It's funny, I grew up in PHL and like many here it took leaving to realize how much nicer everyone else in the world is. The AA and US agents at SFO and LAX are a pleasure for the most part, everyone I ever encountered with DL in ATL and DCA are great. But PHL is like walking into a battle zone- one of the few places where an agent and a passenger mutually yelling at each other is commonplace, and typically necessary.
As the T-Shirt goes....
As the T-Shirt goes....
Sep 20, 2014, 1:38 pm
#45
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MCO
Programs: Hilton Diamond, AA PP
Posts: 541