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US Airways passengers and baggage stranded

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dlredline

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2003
Posts
310
Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 25, 2004 06:35 PM

Against his better judgment, John Price checked a suitcase full of presents for relatives on his Christmas Eve US Airways flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia.

He got off the plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday evening, but his luggage didn't make it. Late Saturday morning, a bleary-eyed Price watched airport workers sort piles of unclaimed bags - none of them his.

"I can't show up empty-handed. That just doesn't cut it," he said.

For the third day in a row Saturday, US Airways passengers were separated from thousands of pieces of lost luggage, many of them at Philadelphia International Airport. Several hundred people stood in long lines at sparsely staffed check-in counters, and piles of suitcases were scattered throughout the baggage claim area.

It was much of the same at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The line of passengers who couldn't find suitcases, golf clubs, guitars or packages filled the US Airways baggage claim office and overflowed into the adjoining room. The floor was littered with more than a hundred unclaimed items from flights the night before.

The airline, which originally cited winter storms, on Saturday blamed the canceled flights and baggage backups on a large number of employees calling in sick.

"We have had an unusually high number of flight attendant sick calls and an unusually high number of bag handler sick calls in Philadelphia," airline spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said. Philadelphia is a US Airways hub.

Spokespeople for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents US Airways baggage handlers, and the Association of Flight Attendants said they had not organized any job actions.

"There is no union action. It's poor management planning, that's my opinion," said Teddy Xidas, president of Association of Flight Attendants Local 40 in Pittsburgh. "We have sick calls every single year around the holiday."

But passengers traveling into Phoenix reported that while on board the planes, rumors of an airline version of the blue flu flew - unlike the airliners.

"A stewardess on our plane told us the grounds crew walked off the job at 8 o'clock the night before," said Caren Orlick Korin, who arrived in the Valley Saturday afternoon. "That's why we were having all these long delays, and why we don't have our suitcases now."

Orlick Korin was livid, despite her exhaustion from traveling from Boston to Philadelphia to Phoenix. Along with her husband and 4-year-old son, she sat on the plane for 90 minutes before both flights. The airline ran out of food on the plane, she said. And once the family reached Sky Harbor they learned their four suitcases and car seat had been left behind.

"Granted, nobody's dead here, and it's just stuff, which apparently we'll get back," she said. "A little consideration, and telling us what's going on, that would've gone a long way though."

"We never would have taken these flights, except that someone's got miles," she said of her husband's participation in a frequent flier program.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta has directed senior officials to talk with US Airways management about problems at the airport, Transportation Department spokesman Robert Johnson said Saturday.

"We are obviously concerned about the situation, and we will be interested in learning more from the airline about how the passengers and their luggage came to be stranded," Johnson said.

The baggage backups extended to other East Coast airports and throughout the rest of the country.

US Airways employees in Phoenix said most of the 200 pieces of luggage left behind would arrive on later flights Saturday, and then delivered to their customers.

As four harried employees sorted through the bags in Phoenix, one muttered, "This is turning out to be the worst Christmas," to no one in particular.

Phoenix US Airways employees declined to comment on the record about the situation.

In Virginia, hundreds of unclaimed bags from US Airways flights were piled at Richmond International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Shirley Malave flew from Philadelphia to Florida on Saturday to be with relatives, but when she arrived in Tampa she discovered that her luggage wasn't on the US Airways plane with her. She waited for two more flights from Philadelphia, but her luggage wasn't on either.

"They ruined everybody's Christmas," said Malave, who lives near Tom's River, N.J.

She was offered a $50 stipend to buy clothes, but on Christmas Day, "good luck trying to find something open," she said. "I have no clothes. Nothing."

In Tampa and Miami, baggage delays on Delta Air Lines flights were also reported. The airline did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Systemwide, US Airways canceled 80 flights Saturday and 100 flights Friday, Kudwa said.

Extra flights carrying nothing but luggage were scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to the airline's bag processing facility in Charlotte, N.C., where workers could help process bags more quickly, Kudwa said.

Struggling US Airways, bankrupt for the second time in two years, says it needs to drastically cut labor costs if it is to survive beyond mid-January, when its interim financing arrangement with the federal government's Air Transportation Stabilization Board is set to expire.

US Airways reservations and gate agents approved a new contract Thursday that cut pay by 13 percent. The airline still needs deals from its flight attendants and its machinists' union.

Includes information from The Associated Press.
 
I appreciate the dire situation amongst the employees at USAIR, with the furloughs, pay cuts, and work rule changes. That being said, you play the deck of cards dealt to you and hope for a better hand in the future. CHAOS in an airline that is legitimately going bankrupt might make you feel better for a minute, but will only accomplish the following in my opinion:

1. Passengers, expecting more CHAOS later, change to other carriers. USAIR bleeds more red ink.

2. More red ink requires asking for MORE regarding pay cuts, not LESS. It requires MORE, not LESS, furloughs. That is not a new better hand to be dealt, but it is an inevitable one.

3. You inconvenience the passengers and your schedulers, NOT management. Trust me, they are packing their golden parachute as we speak. All you are doing is moving up the time they step to the door.

4. You lose public sympathy, and hence Congressional sympathy. Don't expect anyone to step in for a last minute bankruptcy pardon.

On the other hand, if you think liquidation is inevitable and you wanted to spend time with the family at Christmas or start looking for another job, I can see your point. But remember, just because you are RIGHT doesn't mean it is the best course of action. If I step out into a crosswalk with a green walk light, I might be RIGHT and have the right of way, but I'm still DEAD if a semi truck plows into me because I didn't look both ways. Good luck to those folks, especially during this tough holiday season.
 
Actualy it is sad that it has to come to this but this is the only way to get America to wake up. People want to fly for free and management thinks they should be able to. They take the money out of the employees pockets and give it to the passengers. The employees at Us Airways know that the company is going down and they are basically being martyrs. People need to know that when they shop online to get the cheapest possible ticket they will most likely get the worst service.
 
Chaos

This is absolutely outrageous!:mad: I have e-mailed Storm'n Norman Mineta, and demanded the BK judge give UAIR the right to fire these employees. The airline should be allowed by the BK judge to demand employees report to work for an examination by an RN. Those employees too sick to report would have to report that to their supervisor, who then would have RN's sent to their house for examination. Those too sick to work would be sent home, and those who are examined at home and no illness sick enough to keep them from driving should receive a letter of termination. Most of the employees calling in sick are probably at the hubs. This would not be a hard task to complete. Since the Unions have not acknowledged this as a job action, these employees would have a difficult time getting their jobs back.
 
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lowecur said:
This is absolutely outrageous!:mad: I have e-mailed Storm'n Norman Mineta, and demanded the Federal Gov't give UAIR the right to fire these employees. The airline should be allowed by the BK judge to send RN's to each employees home, and anyone not comfirmed to be sick (fever or severe cold), should receive a letter of termination. Most of the employees calling in sick are probably at the hubs. This would not be a hard task to complete. Since the Unions have not acknowledged this as a job action, these employees would have a difficult time getting their jobs back.




I think these employees could not care less, as they see the writing on the wall. They just wanted to spend some time with their families rather than deal with arrogant, whiny passengers complain about how they missed their flight because of how long the TSA line is.

How much do you think it would cost to hire x number of "RN's" and x number of taxis to visit x number of houses? Don't you think the employees would be "well" by the time these RN's arrived? I thought you were good at math, Lowecur.
 
lowecur said:
This is absolutely outrageous!:mad: I have e-mailed Storm'n Norman Mineta, and demanded the BK judge give UAIR the right to fire these employees. The airline should be allowed by the BK judge to send RN's to each employees home, and anyone not comfirmed to be sick (fever or severe cold), should receive a letter of termination. Most of the employees calling in sick are probably at the hubs. This would not be a hard task to complete. Since the Unions have not acknowledged this as a job action, these employees would have a difficult time getting their jobs back.


Uh, sick time is contractural there sparky. As for sending an RN to my home (or anyones home) good luck...can't be sick around X-mas??? Try writing that into a contract.

If the company made any kind of effort to win good will from these employees, they wouldn't have had these problems. I have no sympathy for USAIR mgmt....(not that they need it). If I were an airways employee, I would have called off as well.
 
The sorry-assed baggage monkeys don't just call in sick on Saturdays, it's off the hook any time the precious Eagles are playing a big game.
 
GogglesPisano said:
How much do you think it would cost to hire x number of "RN's" and x number of taxis to visit x number of houses? Don't you think the employees would be "well" by the time these RN's arrived? I thought you were good at math, Lowecur.
A hell of alot less than they will lose because of this.
 
$39 tickets, $39 worth of service.

Or how about this?

$39 to fly to Orlando to pay $59/day to visit Disney.

The pendulum is just about to start swinging back. Comair probably is going to be spending a lot of money for a computer system in the near future. US Airways will have to liquidate or learn how to make money and pay folks to show up for work (which is true of all the airlines).

Rock bottom has been found and guess what? You can't find someone stupid enough to stand outside an airplane in Philly in winter throwing 50 lb bags for $8.00/hr. You can't find someone stupid enough to take $16K/ year to leave home and family to serve drinks and babysit whiny kids going to Disney. You can't find someone stupid enough to take $20K/year to fly an airplane at midnight, cross country, on Christmas Day (well, Gulfstream graduates excepted). At these pay levels, we have more important things to do with our family and friends. So what's the solution? Um, pay people more and raise the ticket prices.

We're almost there.
 
Palerider957 said:
Uh, sick time is contractural there sparky. As for sending an RN to my home (or anyones home) good luck...can't be sick around X-mas??? Try writing that into a contract.

If the company made any kind of effort to win good will from these employees, they wouldn't have had these problems. I have no sympathy for USAIR mgmt....(not that they need it). If I were an airways employee, I would have called off as well.
Seems to me the judge has already arbitrarily reduced their contractual pay there sparky. The judge can change the contract there sparky.:)
 
tarp said:
$39 tickets, $39 worth of service.

Or how about this?

$39 to fly to Orlando to pay $59/day to visit Disney.

The pendulum is just about to start swinging back. Comair probably is going to be spending a lot of money for a computer system in the near future. US Airways will have to liquidate or learn how to make money and pay folks to show up for work (which is true of all the airlines).

Rock bottom has been found and guess what? You can't find someone stupid enough to stand outside an airplane in Philly in winter throwing 50 lb bags for $8.00/hr. You can't find someone stupid enough to take $16K/ year to leave home and family to serve drinks and babysit whiny kids going to Disney. You can't find someone stupid enough to take $20K/year to fly an airplane at midnight, cross country, on Christmas Day (well, Gulfstream graduates excepted). At these pay levels, we have more important things to do with our family and friends. So what's the solution? Um, pay people more and raise the ticket prices.

We're almost there.
Actually I bet it was the newly hired rock bottom employees that showed up. This job action was by the older "bitter" long time employees. Best they be pushed aside, and into retirement.
 
How much longer is all this B.S. going to go on for ?

US Air -
Another 12months or more whilst more reorganisation takes place again and again.More employee concessions,re negotiated aircraft lease payments.more BK judgements.It is really sad but it must end soon for all concerned.
The customers will still be around and expansion will occur at other carriers once the dust settles.

United -
Similar scenario with poor customer service and management making decisions to further inconvenience customers.Air Wis a good example.

Delta -
Show me any difference from the others.And now the latest Comair debacle just to show consistency with the rest of the industry and piss off the customers.

Who is next to join this exclusive club ?

At least Northwest and Continental are getting on with the job of serving the travelling public.
 
LowIQer has finally gone off the deep end.

First: RN's can't diagnose. Only a doctor can diagnose, and the company doesn't have any right to send anyone to your house, period, even if they could find doctors willing to make housecalls on Christmas . . . . get a grip.

And, if I am sick, what's to say that I am sick at my home? I could have had a bad burrito anywhere in the country . . . .

The point is that these employees are saying that they have had enough, and that the job just isn;t worth doing under these conditions.

What you fail to understand or appreciate is that without dedicated employees, you have no company.
 
lowecur said:
This is absolutely outrageous!:mad: I have e-mailed Storm'n Norman Mineta, and demanded the BK judge give UAIR the right to fire these employees. The airline should be allowed by the BK judge to demand employees report to work for an examination by an RN. Those employees too sick to report would have to report that to their supervisor, who then would have RN's sent to their house for examination. Those too sick to work would be sent home, and those who are examined at home and no illness sick enough to keep them from driving should receive a letter of termination. Most of the employees calling in sick are probably at the hubs. This would not be a hard task to complete. Since the Unions have not acknowledged this as a job action, these employees would have a difficult time getting their jobs back.
And I suppose that you or anyone else will be able to PROVE that most of these that called in sick were actually NOT sick? Maybe you should be shuttled off to a doctors appointment at your expense should you ever call in sick...just to be sure.

I'm not saying I would ever do that myself, more than likely not. But let's wait for the facts.

Happy Near Year!

Mike
 
Ty Webb said:
LowIQer has finally gone off the deep end.

First: RN's can't diagnose. True, but they can do tests necessary to determine a diagnosis. Advance Practice Nurses (Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants can diagnose and would be contacted by phone to determine if an employee can report). Only a doctor can diagnose, and the company doesn't have any right to send anyone to your house, I'll bet the judge could order it period, even if they could find doctors willing to make housecalls on Christmas . . . . get a grip. Now Ty, I'm sure the judge could request all employees report to work who are able to do so. Those who claim to be too ill to work, would receive an examination and appropriate tests by an RN. An Advance Practice Nurse could then determine on the spot if an employee should be sent home.

And, if I am sick, what's to say that I am sick at my home? I could have had a bad burrito anywhere in the country . . . Sorry Ty, but unless you are just short of dying, you will be told to report to work. The point is that these employees are saying that they have had enough, and that the job just isn;t worth doing under these conditions.

What you fail to understand or appreciate is that without dedicated employees, you have no company.
Ty, I'm sorry you lost out at MDW. Now don't be getting your hopes up too high that a liquidation of UAIR in the near future will help AAI out.:)
 
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lowcur,


From the latest USAir management statement:

"U.S. Airways did not think the high volume of sick calls at Christmas was organized, Kudwa said."

Nuff said.

Mike
 
Cappy said:
lowcur,


From the latest USAir management statement:

"U.S. Airways did not think the high volume of sick calls at Christmas was organized, Kudwa said."

Nuff said.

Mike
Nice spin, but the NTA will determine otherwise. You will see "report to work" orders issued by the judge in the next day or so. 29 flts cancelled today with consolidation of pax on other flts. IAM and FA heads will role.
 
Lower: Perhaps you should READ the post before you quote it. The point that Cappy was trying to make was that if management doesn't think the action was planned then they really are too stupid to be "running" an airline.

Cappy: Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

FJ
 
Lowcur,

what you do not see is what is actually going on inside U. Talk to some of the pilots still there. From what they saw, When Philly was desintegrating on friday, no one could find a single managment type on the property. The base manager was AWOL. As one Captain put it "there were only foot soldiers present, no officers to be seen anywhere"

Another Captain has been buying ice and cokes out of his own pocket to have the aircraft stocked, Apparantly catering has been AWOL in PHL for about 2 weeks.

Management has pulled the staffing so far down in all departments that when things started going south there was no stopping it.

Don't know about the F/A situation, but the number I heard was 180 or so called in sick........which is normal for the F/a's at christmas from what I remember. I do not think I ever flew a Christmas trip with the scheduled F/A's. Always had a couple of reserves called out to fill in for sick calls. Normally the Captain and myself were the only originally scheduled crew on Christmas eve. Maybe it was just the trips I was on.

As for the sick outs being fired? I do not think they really care anymore.

At one time that was a great airline. The trip down the toilet started in the late 80's and a constant flow of sorry a$$ managment since then has only speeded it on its way to the big flush.
 
lowecur said:
This is absolutely outrageous!:mad: I have e-mailed Storm'n Norman Mineta, and demanded the BK judge give UAIR the right to fire these employees. The airline should be allowed by the BK judge to demand employees report to work for an examination by an RN. Those employees too sick to report would have to report that to their supervisor, who then would have RN's sent to their house for examination. Those too sick to work would be sent home, and those who are examined at home and no illness sick enough to keep them from driving should receive a letter of termination. Most of the employees calling in sick are probably at the hubs. This would not be a hard task to complete. Since the Unions have not acknowledged this as a job action, these employees would have a difficult time getting their jobs back.
lowecur, You enjoy yanking the chain, don't ya?

The airline already has the right to fire these people. The union might fight to get the job back, but they can't stop the firing.

enigma
 

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