channa

Indeed. Though UA's agent is usually at the podium, so you have to find them (or they're working the next flight). CO's agent is standing in the hallway, wearing a red blazer, holding a printout and saying, "Connections?" And IIRC, the red coat is usually in addition to the agent meeting the flight/driving the jet bridge. It's really just throwing people at a non-critical fucntion.

joel67

Don't really know if it's the GA or another agent, but on arrival I've often seen PMUA agents standing with a connection list at hubs on large equipment and/or delayed flight arrival. Maybe it's the conspicuous red blazer that makes people think there's something special at CO?

demosthenes1

"Can you protect me on that back-up flight?"

As a 1k, I have learned that these should be just about the first words out of my mouth when things begin to go crosswise. I have found that the answer is almost always "yes", and the option this creates has saved me many times.

Under the new SHARES regime, is it going to be a lot harder for agents to create protection without canceling the original reservation?

Cbmaz

I've been backed up in the EWR UC many times, never had an issue.

Dr_Adventure

I've never seen this person in all my passes through IAH

halls120

I saw him when I got off my flight from DCA a few weeks ago. He gave me incorrect gate information, and had I not checked a board, I would have missed my connecting flight.

fastair

You were told wrong. I looked at a history today. While there is no way to sort it (like request only "air history",) it looks similar to ours (not sure if it is in inverse chronological order or chronological order.)
Check your handy dandy shares flip book, it is in there, as well as etkt history, which I also utilized today (well watched as a supe was looking at it, as I have not had my indoctrination yet.)

xzh445

Which is way they announce on board to "Check the flight monitors, as your gate assignment may have changed.

(The red coat is likey using a sheet that may be a few hours old) IAH used to have monitors over the arrivals path near the concourse for each gate. They would set them to the in house page that would show the city code vs. spelling out the city and it could display many more fights. The red coats could look at that, which was live data. I would suspect somewhere down that line that some carriers will start equipping the "roving supervisors" or red coat type agents with iPads, and have acess to the live FIDS data (as well as host access) All it takes is time and money.

FriendlySkies

I talked to ten CSRs, including 3 Service Directors, today. Out of all 10, none of them had anything good to say about their SHARES training.

We talked about March 3, and the "Summer of Hell" was referenced several times.

halls120

When the FA on board gives you gate information, I can understand why it might be old information. For a red coat to have information that is "a few hours old" is simply laziness. If the red coat isn't going to take the time to get an updated list before meeting an incoming flight, why even bother?

FlyingNone

++++++++++++++++++++
May I throw more Shtuff in the game, here? Some of the trainers do not have a lot of years with CO, at least at the station I work at. We're talking 2-3 years for some; one UA agent was showing the CO trainer at the gate what steps to take first (from her notes !!!) regarding boarding at the gate because the trainer was starting to do something out of sequence. Learning SHARES formats is one thing/....being on the same page in real-time, real-world is another.

My guess is, (hopefully in a short period of time), saavy UA agents will be leaps and bounds ahead of some CO agents. This is not to say UA agents are better or to put-down any CO agents, obviously they have been doing the job for a long time but the dynamics are different. I think dealing with well-spaced CO flights to Houston versus HOURLY UA flights to Chicago and Denver from many stations are horses of a different color especially during irrops. Also the passenger base is different in many ways, I think UA probably has more business people who are rushed and commonly change flights/ dates/ upgrades, etc., etc. whereas CO may have a larger leisure base traveler. The demands of business travelers in a very rushed environment combined with irregular ops will probably come as a "eye-opener" to some CO agents when we are all located on the same counters/ gates.

channa

Any idea how interested 1Ks can get hold of these?

They may come in handy when dealing with frazzled agents in March.


Because it's the type of window dressing that earns CO so many awards. It's not about providing anything of substance, it's about having the facade.

LarkSFO

A 1K / GS / frequent traveler flipbook to help us guide the agents supporting us! I like the idea. Hopefully there will be an app for that...

I was on the phone with a 1K agent today and she said that they do not use fastair and have not in years. So, my question: who, of the people we (customers) interact with use fastair today, and if they do not, what system do they use?

She did say that things are changing, she had been to training, and that systems will change next year. What do 1K agents use today? What are they changing to?

(note to all regarding benefits of being a 1K: UA waived 4 X $20 Australia visas due to my 1K status. Nice benefit.)

mduell

Yes, we believe SHARES is cheaper than Apollo.

Baze

Cheaper, maybe, but is it more cost effective?