https://www.google.com/amp/kdvr.com/2016/12/21/whistleblower-says-frontier-was-affected-by-walkout/amp/


DENVER -- A whistleblower says Frontier Airlines is lying when it says no workers walked off the job during Saturday's snowstorm leading to an operational meltdown that left countless passengers and baggage stranded at Denver International Airport this week.

The employee, whose identity FOX31 agreed to protect, works for Simplicity USA, the vendor in charge of ramp and baggage operations for Frontier.


"There was only 12 of us at most that stayed for the evening shift," said the worker referring to Saturday night when DIA received an unexpected eight inches of snow.


The employee said Simplicity USA had recently implemented a "freeze" policy to keep workers on shift an extra two hours if weather conditions demanded it.


But the whistleblower said employees from two overlapping shifts bailed at 10:30 pm instead of staying longer as management demanded.


"They didn`t stay. They just left, we`re talking over 12 probably 15 people," said the worker referring to the number of people he said left early.


He said the reasons varied. "Public transportation at the airport, the last bus leaves at 11:30 pm so if you don`t catch that one there's not really a ride home for you."


The employee also said some of his coworkers worried the two-hour "freeze" would last longer than two hours and were increasingly frustrated by the snowy working conditions.


"We had problems with the equipment getting stuck in the snow constantly because we had no crew to plow any of the jetways or anything. The other airlines like Southwest, when we drive past them they have enclosed vehicles. Frontier doesn`t have a windshield on their vehicles. Most of the time we don`t even have emergency brakes that work."


On Tuesday, Frontier admitted it should have pre-canceled more flights before the storm hit.


The whistleblower says that would've definitely helped since so many delayed airplanes began arriving at DIA at the same time. "Had four planes on the runway at one time, and you had to bounce between every gate trying to flip them as quick as you could ... definitely impossible."


Frontier didn't respond when FOX31 asked why the airline insisted for days no workers walked off the job.


Instead Frontier spokesman Jim Faulkner said it was Simplicity's responsibility to answer that question.


Frontier does acknowledge that it provides the equipment Simplicity workers use but maintains the equipment is adequate. But Faulkner did admit it "doesn't work as well in cold weather."


As for snow plows, Faulkner said Frontier plowed what it could but added, "We had aircraft on the gates so it was hard to clear the entire gate area until aircraft were moved."


Simplicity sent FOX31 the following statement:

"Due to the extreme weather conditions over the weekend, we experienced disruptions to our operations despite the fact that many of our employees worked very long hours in difficult conditions. We deeply regret any inconvenience to Frontier’s customers. We have implemented a review to understand all aspects of what happened including evaluating Frontier's equipment and our own staffing procedures to ensure that we are better prepared in the future to handle severe weather events which exceed what was originally forecast."

 

At what point did 6" of snow in Denver in the month of December become "EXTREME"?

 

This just in... Seuthsayer predicts extreme temperatures of up to 95 degrees or more in July, 2017. When pressed, this same purveyor of predictions says it could snow as much as 12 inches during the months of January, February, and March.

Officials at Frontier deny these wild weather phenomena could ever actually occur.

The psychic says it's really outside his wheelhouse, but when pressed, he also predicted that Worker's, when paid sub-standard wages and then expected to perform at high levels in extreme conditions while simultaneously being chronically understaffed and while dealing with poorly-maintained, secondhand equipment MIGHT walk off the job when faced with overly difficult situations and given an opportunity to earn more money at the local 7-Eleven.

 

Hey CEO suggestion......
Frontier should offer EVERY stranded passenger 2 FREE standby round trip tickets system wide, with a SMALL upgrade fee to make them POSATIVE SPACE.

SORRY JUST WONT CUT IT!

 

with a SMALL upgrade fee ( LIKE $1) to make them POSATIVE SPACE.

SORRY JUST WONT CUT IT![/QUOTE]

 

Can i get a load ck on 1754 on Christmas day. Thanks

 

PM has been sent.

Good luck.

 

Thanks.........

 

Things are so messed up at this place, I'd look to other options if it's important you get somewhere. Things are NOT going smoothly today.

At least check out a flight tracker of some sort. This place is a real **** show.

 

I got 2 JA calls in the middle of the night. One was for an early morning CLT turn that they were offering 25 hours of JA pay! I could think of 67 reasons to roll over and go back to sleep. I obviously didn't answer.