cliffgil

On Wednesday evening, our flight (BUF-CLT) was delayed due to machanical problems. We had to wait over 2 hours for another plane to arrive. My group headed back to the club and they were very nice and had great information on our delima. It was 7:45pm and we were told the club was closing at 8pm. We had a drink, and at 7:50pm tried for another, but was told the bar was closed. (?) Anyway, we decided we would relax until they asked us to leave.

We overheard the lady at the desk have a conversation with presumably some manager. She basically told the person on the other end the situation and offered that eleven of us were Chairman. I am Platinum, but I was traveling with a Chairman, and there were at least 10 others in the Club. The person on the other end must have asked how many 'guest' there were, because she offered that there one one guest. Not sure why that would matter.

She was trying to convince the person on the other end to stay open longer...she lost the debate. At 8:15pm she nicely asked us to leave. We jokingly gave her a hard time, and she said 'I tried'.

I give her credit, but the person on the other end really missed an opportunity to go Above and Beyond.

warreng24

It is possible that the agent wanted the keep the club open to get some OT hours in...

coachrowsey

I know "several" of the club ladies in Clt & they are the best^. Here's the deal, they are just not willing to pay the over time as the station has cut over time.

Now & slightly ot but still relating to over time, they have no problem putting employees on mandatory over time (like last night) when the roads are getting more dangerous by the minute. They violate our contracts & quite frankly most of it was un necessary

rxralph

Did your distribute any A/B certificates?

ralph

Sparrow_Hawk

I have seen the OP's scenario played out several all with the same answer, NO!

Back before the Merger, N. Bruce Ashby who was President or Senior VP of something at US was fond of the phrase "Business Acumen" and it occurs to me that oft times the hourly employees seem to have more of Mr Ashby's "Business Acumen" when it comes to high yield customers than those esconsed in the friendly confines of 1111 Rio Salada.

Granted, there could be God knows what kind of issues associated with staying open another hour as the Clubs are subject to local codes and such. Witness the no booze in the BOS Club for a rather glaring example.

Travels2mch

I do remember back in the days, the PIT clubs staying open if there were delays. They would ask everyone what flights we were waiting for and they would keep an eye on them so nobody missed any. I even remember GA's calling the club to make sure everyone was notified. Ah the good old days when this was a real company.

buckeyefanflyer

At CO they try within reason to keep the club open when flights are delayed.

Last Februrary 7:25PM FLL-CLE had a major delay, could not use the inbound aircraft due to a mechanical issue. The flight was pretty full, was looking for another aircraft.
Found a aircraft coming in from EWR after midnight. Flight left FLL 1:30AM and yes
they kep the President's Club open. It usually closes several hours earlier.

RIC Hokie

How big is the club in BUF? I was kind of surprised in reading the post that they have a club. Are they the smallest airport for US to have a club?

Feliceesq

The Buffalo club is not huge, but the people who work there are the warmest, most helpful people in the world! They always go the extra mile for the members. For example, I had a necklace that came undone and one of the staff went out past security and looked all the way from the curb through the airport for it.

And though the club is small, it is often fairly crowded. I have not heard any thoughts of closing it, and certainly hope they would never do so. I am still very peeved that they closed the LAS club, since the staff there was super, too.

Sparrow_Hawk

There is a lesson in all of this that US will NEVER learn as they can't pry themselves away for their spreadsheets and beloved "metrics".

With a little bit of luck I'll be working for a company shortly that one could argue abuses things like Metrics, spreadsheets & all manner of statisical process control to run their business.

The difference between US and the above mentioned company? PEOPLE, I know more than a few who work there and when the "metrics" tell Mid/senior management one story, if you work there don't be surprised to be in on a conference call that goes something like, "Hey our numbers tell us this, You tell us what's really happening so we can fix it"

In the airline business CO & WN get that the one variable that can not always be measured effectively are people, whether they are customers or employees. Let's be honest sometimes the numbers paint the exact picture, but sometimes they don't and that's where the "Business Acumen" comes into play. Somebody has to weigh all of the factors, not just those on the spreadsheet and arrive at a course of action such as allowing the Club to remain open.

US Airways only focuses on the numbers, leaving the people twisting in the breeze be they customer or employee.