sluggoaafa

Besides when he was working down in the trenches early on in his career with AA....um...no. Haven't seen any of the legacy carrier CEOs doing any of these things that you mention above, so is it on par that he doesn't?

B6s previous CEO Neeleman did for a little while...but then quickly stopped once things started going down hill, now where is he?

Even if Arpey came out on the line and lugged bags, it wouldn't bring the morale any higher....

bdemaria

Anyone (such as myself) who has had the honor of being on an Sluggoaafa flight knows that AA service can be truly best of the best. ^

aceflyer2

Thanks for the insight. There seems to be a lack of leadership at the top. No organization in it's right mind wants excessive turnover as it results in higher recruitment, selection, orientation and training costs. Excessive turnover also adversely affects employee morale and organizational culture. Can organizations, including AA, do something to curb employee turnover? You bet they can, but they have to want to. I'm in favor of 360 degree performance review, where employee evaluations are based on input from several sources, including supervisor, peers, customers, self, etc... FAs are the front line for AA; as such it is critical that they put a smile on their faces and do the very best job possible. Recognize FC passengers by name (I've had some recently do this) as passengers enter the aircraft; greet them with a smile and welcome; offer to help with luggage or to find seat; offer a predeparture drink; pass through aisle several times during flight (even on non-meal flights) to see if you can assist passengers in any way; if time permits, take time to converse with passengers (if they seem to desire to); stand at the front upon deboarding and thank passengers for flying AA, etc.... There are many things (I'm sure others can add more) that FAs can do to help make AA stand apart from others in a positive sense. Many of these things don't cost AA a penney, but they do require careful recruitment and selection procedure to ensure a conguency between employee and organizational goals. They also require effective training as well as performance review. In my opinion, merit pay is also valuable as it helps motivate employees to perform at a higher level.

Deltahater

Obviously some posters have an agenda of bashing AA and they have aced that ability. It is really not adding much value.

To the AA/BA christmas flyer... Enjoy your flight and have fun on it. CO might be a better airline in F in the USA, but AA is good or above average.

There are always problems somewhere. Do we really need to dwell on them?

aceflyer2

AA is and has been my primary carrier for many years, and my desire is for it to be the best airline it can be. There are obviously some areas that need improvement, as in any organization. I heard a saying years ago that has much merit: 'success is never final.'

aamilesslave

Kudos to the FAs for feeding themselves? If they can't get that part right...

skylady

Contrary to popular belief, AA does not have a high turnover rate for FAs. Because of the uniqueness of the job, there is no easy/cheap/free way to monitor 17,000 FAs on a daily basis. And, unfortunately, we are told there is no money in the coffers to offer any merit-based bonuses. That is why the SOS program is gone.

PUCCI GALORE

You know - you are right and I do agree with some of what you say. I work for the laziest, rudest, most inefficient, most ungracious, off-handed airline on the planet. According to some of what I read here. I will say that over the years I have actually asked for details to be PMd me to see if I can get any insight or help over particualr issues. One person and one person only ever took up my offer. I actually asked one other person who had an such agenda of poison against BA (yes that one) that I assumed that one of us had committed acts against the person and his family that would make a decent person faint. I asked if they had ever posted anything positive and whether I would read that. I think that was about 4 years ago and I am still waiting. I am being deliberately vague - and what I say is - that there is a huge difference between the people who actually fly the airline because they want to, the people who are not high enough up the company to have any say in whether they fly them or not, or indeed whether the incident ever took place in the first place. Let me be quick to say that this is in no way a comment on the OP whatsoever - I am just trying to make the point that name me the airline Forum and someone will want to bad mouth it. So what? We know what we know and who cares? I read some of the stuff - in BA's instance and it is so far removed from the Company that I happen to work in that I just draw my own conclusions.

Now - whilst I really do not have time for a lot of trivial compalints there are things which are fair and which are right. We know what these are. Sometimes we resent people (particularly people from abroad in the UKs instance) telling how we should be doing better. We reesent it because we know it, and whilst we may not like to acknowledge it we are none the less well aware of it.

Genuine gripes should be aired - it is often the only way that these get aired. These Board are looked at (to my certain knowledge at BA - and certainly in the past at AA - that I know as a certain fact) and I am delighted. No - legitimate complaints or requests as to how to proceed should be aired. There has been a thread a little while ago over at United about F between SYD and SFo (I think). It has that unmistable ring of authenticity and Management should read it and weep.

Deltahater

Would it really cost that much to offer positive space tickets to you guys based on merit???

HeadInTheClouds

FWIW, I do disagree with this. I think it is quite clear over the past several years or so that airlines that generally gave good customer service (WN, CO, AA) have prospered in comparison to those that did not (UA especially comes to mind). (Granted, "prosper" is a relative term here .) Clearly there are net gainers & losers within the above table.

I also disagree with all the talk about how the customer has to be involved in helping management solve their discipline problems. Shocking as it may seem to some, the customer shouldn't ever have to write complaint letters or emails, or hand out coupons to employees. Both acts are burdensome on someone who simply wants to buy a product and have it delivered.

The market will balance itself out in the end, as evidenced by UA's fortunes compared to AA/CO/WN. CO seems to have mastered this idea quite well. Whether or not AA does is a factor of whether people take their money elsewhere, not whether they write complaint letters. I know some have a need to vent and want to be a part of the company and all that... but this isn't like "recycling". We don't need peer pressure around here to make people feel like they have an obligation to write letters, else they be responsible for the downfall of a company. Customers should put themselves first, and if that includes a need to call, write, etc., then have at it. But we don't need to make those who don't have such a need feel bad about it either.

aceflyer2

There are ways to monitor FA performance, as there are ways to monitor other employees' (in other organizations) job performance. Naturally, some employees are going to resist this. It may not be easy, but there IS a way, and it should be done, as performance review conducted in the right way can have positive effects on individual and organizational performance. Good employees will appreciate this especially if their performance is linked to compensation. A slacker should NOT receive the same amount of compensation as someone who is doing an outstanding job.

brp

Cool. Can you suggest how it might be done specifically in the context of AA's FAs, given budget constraints and such? Concrete suggestions are always welcome.

Cheers.

planecrashlaw

There was that super secret e-mail address that some of us were given a while back where we could comment on service and aircraft issues. It was only a test, and seemed to have gone away, but I used it quite a bit--and it could be done anonymously. As I recall, the FA union was not happy about X-number of "secret shoppers" out there spying on their members.

I'm all for bringing that program back.

aceflyer2

If you go back to an earlier post of mine on this thread, you will see that I have mentioned 360 degree performance review. This type review comes from a number of sources and is the current trend in performance evaluation. It could involve feedback from customers, peers, ones self, and yes a supervisor. I don't know how AAs hierarchical structure is set up, but do know that some airlines have a senior FA or purser who's in charge and could perform the supervisory function. I assume that AA has a performance evaluation/feedback system in place for other employees.

brp

It's been mentioned elsewhere, but AA do not have a supervisor-on-board type of arrangement, although other airlines do. As for 360 degree assessments, i think they're great- we use them. It works best, though, when one has peers that one works with quite a bit. I get the impression that crew mixes are very fluid in airlines, so the exposure that one FA gets to any other is not extensive. With the amount of peer-to-peer contact that would happen, the volume of data would be enormous, and each data point would be based on little experience. I don't think that's a feasible approach here.

Of course, input from customers should be of paramount importance. But, again, these are isolated experiences. and one pissed-off customer should not weigh heavily if it's a small data volume. A consistent set of "pissed-off" reports is something else.

Cheers.