ASA CS ExpressJet meltdown

[COOPERVANE]

I'm embarrassed to admit that I JUST found out about ExpressJets meltdown because of our totally inept crew scheduling system. Actully inept is a kind term, I don't know of a word that describes the skill-set of our management.

For those at ASA that don't know, we had some "operational challenges" that affected the ExpressJet side of the operation. You won't read about the TOTAL meltdown on ourASA. Our counterparts were forced to cancel MANY flights due to lack of crews and aircraft even though many were standing around, trying to contact scheduling. Some were already boarded and ready to push from the gate. Aircraft and crews sitting around and nothing but a busy signal from CS. Rufusal to comply with the contract, instances of being hung up on, no hotels being booked, etc..

I was told for the first time since I started at ASA that the CS supervisor wasn't gonna talk to me. REFUSED to take my call. That my friends is becoming the norm and is unacceptable.

We are being managed by Billy Bob with a 8 year old PC that his niece Tommy-Sue built from used parts.

Basically your life is being run by a messenger that AT BEST got a GED, possibly while serving a long jail sentence. His/her supervisor hates you and feels that it is beneath them to take your call.

"Damm greedy pilots bothering me with all this whining about contracts and such, all while I'm stuck in this hellhole cubicle with a TRS-80 making $8.25/hr"
​

You get the idea.

This is CERTAIN to garner attention from UniCal and the results may not be pretty.

To the ExpressJetters.......I'm so sorry...... There's nothing else I can say. You're on Candid Camera????

 

[pilotkppsg]

It's all good, we just canned roughly 20% of the entire weekend operation despite having crews in place. They denied us hotels, called us during our "rest" periods and generally fumbled the ball on every carry. There's no need to apologize man, this happened to us back in 07 too when we launched branded and delta. We are in this together and we've gotta hold firm on getting a good contract with work rules in place that hedge this bs. Xjet's contract was consistently violated this weekend, this isnt going to be cheap to fix. I'd hate to see the amount of days to restore, vacation days to add to next year and amount of add pay to be processed. They wanna cut corners and run us lean? Well, Here's what happens Larry.

 

[asayankee]

Asa crew scheduling at it's finest. These are the same people that last week simply forgot to run the reserve bid awards. Then, after they ran them forgot/ refused to put them into SkedPlus for another full day.

Welcome to the suck... Unfortunately this is pretty standard for the folks over there. Next will be an email from Brad or Charlie about some "operational challenges" that will surely end with one of them saying "Thanks for all you do" and telling us we need to work harder to help make up for it.

 

[j3tdr1v3r]

Next will be an email from Brad or Charlie about some "operational challenges" that will surely end with one of them saying "Thanks for all you do" and telling us we need to work harder to help make up for it.

We got that yesterday...

 

[Baronman]

It's a total mess. When you combine a company that has incompetent schedulers and a pilot group that is sick and tired this is he result. The contract is a joke, the company will push the limit to their benefit and the pilots disregard things that inconvenience them saying the company breaks the contract anyways....

 

[TEXAN AVIATOR]

I was told by asa high ups "we're hiring new schedulers so that's the problem right now". The problem, this weekend in part is they rushed to get us off CCS and onto sked+ to save some money. But they didn't test sked+ nearly enough to ensure a smooth transition. It should have ran behind the scenes for months not a week. They didn't even know where crews were! The other problem is complete and total scheduling department incompetence. Oh and we're having to watch our pay like hawks, I've put in 7 pay claims in sept & oct. They shorted me near 22hrs of total pay, so we're doing payrolls job too

 

[ohplease!]

I was told by asa high ups "we're hiring new schedulers so that's the problem right now". The problem, this weekend in part is they rushed to get us off CCS and onto sked+ to save some money. But they didn't test sked+ nearly enough. It should have ran behind the scenes for months not a week. They didn't even know where crews were! The other problem is complete and total scheduling department incompetence.

Buddy, I hate to tell you this, but we've been on sched + for years now and they don't know where we are. Incompetence is a huge under statement....there really isn't a word that describes the level of idiocy in crew scheduling.....welcome to the party

 

[TEXAN AVIATOR]

My issue is this - we have serious operational issues at this new "SUPER REGIONAL" Many things need to be fixed, people need to be replaced in certain departments.... But we have time for gay programs like "aceypalooza" and the other touchy feely programs our HR comes up with? How about you fix the issues and make us a leading performer again. None of these issues are the pilots fault (they never are). It's the HR doing what they want wasting money and resources, management doesn't wanna fire his buddy or hurt his brother in laws feeling in X dept, same ole same ole.

 

[bigshooter107]

Atl CHief pilots were answering the phone in sked on Sunday, u could hear total madness in the back ground.

 

[IHateDaley]

"ASA Crew Scheduling meltdown."

From the department of redundancy department.

 

[Dannone]

How about we stop the hating back and forth among the pilot groups and understand that we need to stick together and get a better future for both groups!!! Management is f-ing up while pitting us against each other and we are falling for it!! A quote form SH in recent recurrent. "We will get the groups merged and save the money that goes with it when you guys cave" WTF?!?

 

[zawillif]

I bet crew scheduling doesn't know where I am right now, and I'm in the hotel. The last time I asked to talk to a supervisor they extended me and took my day off...And I actually never got to speak to the supervisor anyway.

 

[aussieflyboy]

I bet crew scheduling doesn't know where I am right now, and I'm in the hotel. The last time I asked to talk to a supervisor they extended me and took my day off...And I actually never got to speak to the supervisor anyway.

Ever heard of the word "NO"? Grow a set man. Tell them where they can shove their extension.

 

[dojetdriver]

vacation days to add to next year and amount of add pay to be processed.

That MOU has expired. They won't be tacking on ANY vacation days next year.

They shorted me near 22hrs of total pay, so we're doing payrolls job too

Those of us doing Branded/DelCon had to do payroll's job for them for a year and half. And they STILL screwed it up.

 

[Nevets]

There's no need to apologize man, this happened to us back in 07 too when we launched branded and delta.

This is not true. We didn't have this happen during the Branded/Delcon days, well other than the PMR issues.

 

[dojetdriver]

This is not true. We didn't have this happen during the Branded/Delcon days, well other than the PMR issues.

I don't remember EXACTLY when it was, but we did have a similar situation that affected Branded/Delcon. It had something to do with a CMS/Crewtrac problem that occurred. GS was pi$$ed about it.

But there were multiple Branded flights cancelled due to lack of proper notification of crews, etc.

 

[eaglepilot6]

This on top of the XJet dispatch meltdown of late sept? Welcome to our advanced, top of the line SkyWest/ASA computer system.

Although I do admit, the one thing that is consistent is that I must change my password every 3 weeks!

 

[dojetdriver]

This on top of the XJet dispatch meltdown of late sept? Welcome to our advanced, top of the line SkyWest/ASA computer system.

XJT had a system wide Dispatch computer meltdown in 08 IIRC as well. The kind where the dispatchers couldn't even get into their system and push out a release or even a file a flight plan. Many of us ended up doing it ourselves, doing pen and ink with a call to the dispatcher, and calling 1800-WX-BRIEF to get the flight plan filed just to get the flight out.

Good times......good times........

 

[JoeMerchant]

So XJT has had this before and now you want to blame this all on ASA/SKYW....got it....

 

[hou757]

So XJT has had this before and now you want to blame this all on ASA/SKYW....got it....

XJT has not had it this bad before...

 

[dojetdriver]

So XJT has had this before and now you want to blame this all on ASA/SKYW....got it....

Yep Joe, XJT has had IT issues before. JUST LIKE COMAIR had when they experienced a complete meltdown a few years back, just like United experienced over the summer, as well as other airlines on various scales at one time or another.

But what you FAIL to realize is this, all of XJT's stuff is being controlled by ASA/ATL now. And this is something that should NEVER have happened. It was a complete failure of ASA's (ahem, SkyWest's) management to properly operate an airline.

So blame it on ASA, I mean SkyWest? Yep, you bet. Because this sure as heck wasn't XJT's fault. If those facts and logic are such that you can't follow and understand, sorry man, don't know what to tell you.

Maybe somebody needs to tell SkyWest the following about XJT;

"Hey Jerry, you break it, you buy it"

Because when you go back to all the 2008 COEX-SkyWest drama/collusion that went on, that's basically what happened.

 

[JoeMerchant]

Yep Joe, XJT has had IT issues before. JUST LIKE COMAIR had when they experienced a complete meltdown a few years back, just like United experienced over the summer, as well as other airlines on various scales at one time or another.

But what you FAIL to realize is this, all of XJT's stuff is being controlled by ASA/ATL now. And this is something that should NEVER have happened. It was a complete failure of ASA's (ahem, SkyWest's) management to properly operate an airline.

So blame it on ASA, I mean SkyWest? Yep, you bet. Because this sure as heck wasn't XJT's fault. If those facts and logic are such that you can't follow and understand, sorry man, don't know what to tell you.

Maybe somebody needs to tell SkyWest the following about XJT;

"Hey Jerry, you break it, you buy it"

Because when you go back to all the 2008 COEX-SkyWest drama/collusion that went on, that's basically what happened.

Dojetdriver, you are right...CMR, ASA, XJT, ACA and many others have had this type meltdown before....In defense of ASA, at ASA it usually happens during IROPS, especially snow events...

Now the reason this happens is two fold...The environment since the deregulation act of 1978 coupled with a technology called the internet has brought yields down...Not your fault, nor mine... The second is "our union's" horrendous response to the first problem...We now compete with our "fellow union brothers" for flying based on cost...This causes costs to be cut so that the cheap passengers can get cheap tickets....

Our side, ALPA, has made huge tactical errors with this paradigm shift..and we all pay the price....Jerry is doing more than ALPA has ever done for the regionals...He is trying to restore pricing power which will benefit ALL of us....ALPA ain't doing crap to try and restore things....My money is with Jerry....

 

[dojetdriver]

Dojetdriver, you are right...CMR, ASA, XJT, ACA and many others have had this type meltdown before

Can you tell me when ACA had this type of operational meltdown? Specifically IT and management failing to do their jobs? I'm not talking about a staffing (lack of) issue. Not saying it didn't happen, but I can't remember when. You got any specific details?

....In defense of ASA, at ASA it usually happens during IROPS, especially snow events...

That's the problem, there was NO snow event, there was NO hurricane, there was NO tropical storm. This was a 100% pooch screwing by ASA (ahem, SkyWest) management that NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!!!!

Now the reason this happens is two fold...The environment since the deregulation act of 1978 coupled with a technology called the internet has brought yields down...Not your fault, nor mine... The second is "our union's" horrendous response to the first problem...We now compete with our "fellow union brothers" for flying based on cost...This causes costs to be cut so that the cheap passengers can get cheap tickets....

Our side, ALPA, has made huge tactical errors with this paradigm shift..and we all pay the price....Jerry is doing more than ALPA has ever done for the regionals...He is trying to restore pricing power which will benefit ALL of us....ALPA ain't doing crap to try and restore things....My money is with Jerry....

Actually, all Jerry is doing is lining his own pockets, helping to ensure his golden parachute should he need to punch out later, and maximizing share holder value. And in the process, he's actually dragging the regionals down in the process.

Never underestimate JoeMerchant's ability to turn ANYTHING into an ALPA bashing post.

 

[IBNAV8R]

Jerry and the Skyw Inc. Board

 

[Nevets]

Jerry is doing more than ALPA has ever done for the regionals...He is trying to restore pricing power which will benefit ALL of us....ALPA ain't doing crap to try and restore things....My money is with Jerry....

You actually think he is trying to benefit us pilots? Even if he was so benevolent towards pilots, who cares? You don't want to ask for too much of that money anyways. Ya, he has your money and mine and Dojejdriver, and 7,000 others!

 

[Oakum_Boy]

So what exactly was the reason for this week's ongoing disaster? IT? Or was it the fact that when I talked with scheduling it sounded like they just rounded up some random teenagers and told them to run an airline. There won't be an Asa or expressjet in a few years the way this is going.

Note to Jerry:

You can't and won't find intelligent and motivated people around College Park to staff the G.O. this will continue until this place evaporates. Please, move HQ to Utah or back to Houston and get some help that resemble human beings.

 

[701EV]

Don't worry folks BH is on it!

"First, before outlining our challenges over the weekend I want everyone to know that although there were many contributing factors to our airline’s inability to deliver a quality product, I believe that the leadership of this company must take responsibility, and I believe that we let everyone down. The decisions we make every minute of every day determine whether each of you have the tools and support needed to be successful on the front line, and I don’t believe that we held our end up"

Someone in Utah better WAKE UP!!!

 

[Freebrd]

It doesn't matter how we got here..........

 

[spudskier]

it doesn't matter how we got here..........

tfayd!!!!!

 

[goahead]

fyfayd !!!!!!!