Agreed, but some will never give up an opportunity for a quick buck or two. We as an airline need to focus on quality.

What would be the value of being a contract carrier for a huge multi-national company...always shopping the lowest cost carrier to whip saw the other ones into submission.

You hit the proverbial nail on the head with that one! Unfortunately, what our management does not seem to understand is that "quality" costs $$... i.e. you get what you pay for. Let's hope they figure it out soon.

Exactly, and if we are a contract carrier to something that Skyteam would morph to, our PWA and specifically section one as written would not bind this entity.

It would be nice to start sealing the leaks operationally.

What would we have to do to get up to the quality of someone like Cathay? Just curious for those in the know.

To me, I think FA's, IROPS, International service and terminals should be at the top of the agenda but I know this is a broken record as we've discussed all of the above ad nauseam and the company is being proactive about stuff more than I could ever know sitting here at home. I mean, what a billion dollars is being committed to fixing the place? And a billion dollars fixing something in the hands of a company is a lot different than the government.

But I will say we tried to non-rev to my parents this weekend and failed to get out of ATL. Its during this time I noticed just how tiny our terminals are, they may be cleaner than before, the DCI side is tremendously better than it has ever been, the technology is so much better, but still ATL, sadly, is claustrophobic nightmare with no solution in sight on heavy travel days when you compare it to DTW and CVGs facilities. I mean the airport is fine but the terminal, not so much. So after JFK is burned down I hope ATL and LAX get some attention. We're used to having things burned down around us down here so go ahead.

You need to have a viable "quality at the source" program, one that empowers employees(specifically the captain) to make customer policy changes on the fly. i.e. wave bag fees for delays, free drinks, etc.

Well, I don't consider myself "in the know" (other than a degree and some experience in business) but I'll offer my opinion.

#1 - All Delta employees need to be paid better. You simply cannot offer a superior product (in a customer service business) and treat your employees like some kind of expense to be minimized. It's a hard thing to quantify, but there are many positives that end up greatly enhancing the bottom line when you have a team of loyal, motivated employees working together to provide the best product possible to the customer. The old saying about "taking care of your employees and your employees taking care of your customers" is just as applicable (and necessary) today as it always has been. IMO, we're just going through a bean counter mentality phase right now in American business where they've forgotten about this fundamental principle. Before it's all over, I think this is going to really bite some companies in the butt. Let's just hope Delta figures it out sooner rather than later.

#2 - The vast majority of our product needs to be provided by loyal, motivated employees who are appropriately compensated and were hired for their ability to provide a superior product. This grand outsourcing experiment with DCI has failed miserably. It doesn't matter how much money they throw at airplanes and facilities, or how many times they proclaim "our DCI product is equal to mainline", it doesn't change the reality that the product sucks big time and our customers bought a ticket on Delta Air Lines, not "XYZ Airlines" intentionally disguised as Delta. Frankly, I don't know how they get away with the blatant "bait and switch". If anyone ever decides to press to test on that one, I think it might could get ugly in a hurry.

There are others, but I think those are the two biggest things that need to happen in order to have the kind of product we can all be proud of.

Start with the terminals, that is the first encounter pax have. ATL is a great airport if it was 1976, remove the "breezeway" as it just clogs up a small area. NYC has always been substandard. Off load ATL and NYC to give ourselves a chance at an on time arrival and departure.


FAs are fine I don't know many of us that would want to be in the back of a full 75-300 or an MD90. All groups have issues.

Start looking at ops much harder to seal the leaks and get a more efficent and cost effective company, so that when the down turns come back we will be bullet proof.

We have many FAs who are fine. Many who are excellent.
Its undeniable though - We have a large number who are elderly, obese and meaner than junkyard dogs.
It matters. Passengers notice.

All other things being equal, give a businessman a choice and he'll take jetBlue or Virgin just so he can smile and enjoy the interaction with the flight attendants during the flight. Young enthusiastic FAs who are glad to be there create a much more pleasant atmosphere than the slave ship feeling that permeates the cabin on some of our flights with the "highly experienced" crews.