Originally Posted by
IAHB756
That's why the 767-300's are needed in EWR. Not to make light of the above situation you accurately pointed out but this year was the worse on record for our 757's. Now i'm going to point out something you are not going to like at all.
Since we have been putting the "right aircraft in the right market" for almost a year now, let's review what the almighty s-UAL widebodies have done for business.
1. IAH-LIM needed the extra lift the 767-300 can provide. The reliability of that flight has been so poor that we have lost numerous corporate accounts to AA and DAL. The VP of the IAH hub personally told me that she has received several calls from corporate travel offices from Houston companies telling her that her clients would rather fly to DFW and down to LIM than fly "us" these days. We turned away a lot of money in cargo when we used our 757's on the IAH-LIM route but we supposedly LOSING MONEY now with the aircraft that was supposed to allow us to INCREASE PROFITS exponentially.
2. The 777 that replaced our 767-400 on the HNL-GUM-NRT-GUM segment has cancelled so much that passengers are willingly going over to DAL that now flies widebodies on the GUM-NRT segment and is stepping up operations out of GUM and really giving us a run for our money. The on-time percentage of the 777 flying out of GUM has been cut in half. This is a market that we used to "own".
Now I don't know what the problems are with these aircraft in the two above mentioned markets but I do know that they are the right sized aircraft for the markets. Was it a mistake to place UAL aircraft on these once extremely profitable routes? Is it maintenance? I really don't know the answer.
I think in 2-5 years this airline has the ability to be a huge player in the world. I really hope we don't completely screw it up over the next 2 years with lawsuits etc. and allow Delta to thrive at our expense.
Why do you believe that I'm not going to like it at all? That particular post was in response to a lame (my cocoa is bigger than your bean) statement about CO 757s ETOPS certification and why UAL's were not.
In the broader context of your post though, the next time you personally have the opportunity to put a particular type of equipment in a particular market, I'm certain that you won't hesitate to step up. Today however, that function is purposely left out of the pilots' hands and it's no secret. I'm sure you'll agree that UAL's management goal is for pilots to just show up, fly their trip and go home (good for some, not so good for others). There's no better example of how management wants very little influence coming from the brass hatters on how the company is run, as evident in their exclusion of Pilot SMEs in the integration of the airline. It's a tech company, remember? So consider this to be a full blown assault to render the pilot powerless by eradicating any shred of equal leadership by virtue of the experience they bring to the table (as in your case).
Your observations, however well intended, are a sore to management. Instead, well paid metric oriented/spreadsheet people, whose picture of the world is formed out of data streaming from a 21 inch screen, produces the ideas that promises great results while you witnessed otherwise. Inefficiency, incompetence, inconvenience(as in passengers)?? Who cares when they're still showing a huge profit.
I would think most pilots do appreciate the legit worries your sources feel. They (your sources) only need to move that apprehension further along and up the management tree because all that great fluff (painting airplanes, shifting metal, great route structure, whatever) won't blow until the other bottom line, well paid pilots with the decency of a respectable QOL, and the opportunity to enjoy it with "JOB PROTECTION," is factored into the metric.
Until then there is little else besides flying the contract, that should be done, and never forget that you are a pilot at a Fortune 100 company!!!