Comments on: Surprised? US Airways Is Doing Things Right

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:17:48 +0000

Well Cranky Flier, wonder if you can do the analysis of flying mainline (which US should be doing) vs RJ clunkers flying (which US should do away with money losing RJs anyways). BTW, I prefer turboprops, which ARE STILL the bread and butter routes (LONG BEFORE THOSE RJ CLUNKERS). Would love to see everyone output on this!

By: Margaret Nahmias

Margaret Nahmias — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:03:42 +0000

Yeah, I know someone who works for US Air, he hates the AmWest because they took the name and are using same strategy as the former AmWest. I can understand that the US People, it was a schocking change especially moving the HQ out west. I was thinking he should used to the change because tUS Air went through so many mergers. He worked . I agree with Cranky alot of this emotional not rational. It is What I call people trying to promote tastes and prefrences as fact. Look at the ops stats, look what even the harshest critics such as Philadephia Inquirer are saying. Perception has not caught with reality and that is where Parker and Co. can do a better job such as in marketing and external commuincations. They’ve done hard job by intergrating the best of the two when a forced assimilation would have been easier. Parker learned from the past management’s mistakes, but was not quick to admit his own. Another huge perceptual blunder. I call this merger the greatest experiment since the formation of the United States. No one has tried to merger a younger and older company. This without precedent. Therefore, I forgive him if makes mistakes. The fact he has proven himself. I always say be true not new.
The bottom line is that one company cannot please everyone. When customer start dictating a company’s strategy than it is in trouble because is not focused.The company has use it strategy to determine which customers it will go after and work hard to retain those who are the most profitable for them( On that point I agree with the critics, if they tick their FFers, they are losing their most profitable customers.) THis is crucial in any high competitve low margin industry. US has to create a clearer value proposition and hopefully with Andrew Nocella as the new chief marketer, they can. Yeah they’ve improved, but what makes them different. Their strategy is baseline. and CO and WN have done better job in their respective categories. Nocella has worked with the old US and has some of that organizational memory and know what those customers are looking for. US is fine for me, but they will have define themselves better for more finicky fliers.

By: Margaret Nahmias

Margaret Nahmias — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:09:49 +0000

Well, you should have looked at the coupon. If the phone was busy you have tried again or written a letter. The point was that compared to last years ops disaster They are doing better.

By: joe jackkson

joe jackkson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:58:48 +0000

Come on, Dude, they are pissin off a lot of people due to a lot of reasons. Mine is that I volunteered for a “bump” and was told I would get a certificate for a RT flight anywhere in the US. Turns out I got what is essentially a frequent flyer coupon worth 25,000 “dividend miles” and it turns out to be virtually worthless even trying to book a flight as far out as May. BTW, I have tried all day to get hold of someone in customer relations but the line is so overloaded that you can’t reach someone on the phone. Also, BTW, the damned coupon has an expiration date on it and they will not extend it. Is that any way to treat your customers?

By: Margaret Nahmias

Margaret Nahmias — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:29:06 +0000

Cranky,
I disagree with you Even if they had the kept America West, they still had to take on past sins.

By: Margaret Nahmias

Margaret Nahmias — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:23:44 +0000

Hey Cranky you’re the voice of reason. The US bashing is pretty pathetic in my opinion. FFOCUS, which claims to want US Airways to be succesful does not even mention positive. On Time leader for the first half of 2008 I Their mechanics won quality awards The FAA cited ATC control planning practices as one of the best. I may be have to pay for beverages, but I know my plane won’t crash and I will get there on time. However I am not sure this hybrid strategy is working on much broader scale Wh They want to be America West, but are stuck with the calf iced culture of legacy carrier. Of Customers also need adjust their expectations. Be like the Borg on Star Trek and adapt Reduce consumptions if you must. The good old days are over. Airlines are under no obligation to provide any ancillary services.

By: jonathan reed

jonathan reed — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:09:04 +0000

UA’s domestic F to Hawaii was fairly attractive for a couple when UA still had Ameniti which let you buy 2 seats for the price of one and allowed last minute changes w/o charge since the 2 for 1 deal was full price F. True, seat pitch in F to Hawaii isn’t much better than E+ but the extra width is very nice. And UA did put on some nice meals in domestic F to Hawaii.

By: Darkwater

Darkwater — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:52:12 +0000

I think Piedmont used F as a place to warehouse their frequent fliers when they finally got around to installing F in their entire fleet, not just the 727s that flew between CLT and SFO/LAX.

Since I’m now living within walking distance of DCA, I expect to do more flying from there instead of IAD or BWI, and will probably end up on more US flights than I have in the past. I hope their product in the east and their personnel stabilize so that I can actually choose a carrier based on actual performance instead of “giving them a try.”

By: CF

CF — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:15:28 +0000

jonathan – I think US is probably pretty happy with using F as an upgrade tool. That’s really all it was for America West back in the day. Although, if it isn’t being used for upgrades, they do have strong success selling upgrades at the gate to those in coach.

I would love to see how many F tickets they sell, because I bet your right. There aren’t very many.

That being said, I’m surprised to hear you’ve paid to fly UA F. I mean, if you’re flying p.s., then maybe. Even a 757 is a pretty good product, but I couldn’t imagine paying for F on any of their other narrowbodies.

By: jonathan reed

jonathan reed — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:35:15 +0000

All right, Cranky, maybe you have a point. Let me ask this, though: How many people aspire to fly US in a premium cabin if they have to pay for it, even at a discount. Perhaps, US is happy to use the premium cabins only as free rewards and sell an occasional premium seat to someone who buys on schedule convenience. I have paid to fly United domestic
First and felt a lot better about the experience than when I paid to fly US domestic First.