Doing More With Less
 

Well, the System Chief Pilot says we need to make PA’s and talk to customers during lightning storms. And we have to de-escalate angry customers. (They’re angry because we’re 4 hours delayed and the pilots timed out and now it’s a rolling delay that CNX at 0310 #1615 BOS-BUF last night)

Maybe we could staff the airline appropriately and we’d have reserves to continue the flight. 4 legs on a 190 with a planned 3 hour sit doesn’t equal a summer season in the northeast.

Profit sharing .002. This year they’ll make $1billion net profit. We have a very serious Operational problem. Management needs to fix it. It’s not impossible. But hubris prevails.

Wait till a Tropical system rears it’s head. “Running Hot this summer”.

-Bubs

I mean I get where you're coming from but they are on the verge of hiring 500 people this year so what else would you like them to do to get to a properly staffed airline? If they weren't hiring at all you'd have a point about "not properly staffing an airline" as to de-escalating customers from being angry, I don't get involved.

You should be more like Capt. Mike... this weeks BlueHero! He even helps check carry-on bags, like a gate agent! :rolleyes:

As long as we got BlueHeros like him, not a damn thing will change!

The needle on my GAS meter broke off a long time ago...

This comes up every summer, every year. How we have a serious operational problem that management needs to fix. Then before you know it Halloween is here and everyone forgets....all while they make billions in profit like you said. Playing devil’s advocate here, but what real incentive do they have to really fix things from their point of view?

Here is what i don't understand? Why do you care what people do? Are you a control freak? Whats wrong with You doing you? You wanna do bare mins fine so be it. Someone wants to go above and beyond fine so be it. Your theory of being less than a true professional will allow us to reap benefits is absurd.

If I was going to get surgery by a heart doctor cause I had chest pain. I want a Doc that will go above and beyond not after looking at 2 out of the 4 chambers figuring the other 2 must be clear too and he is wondering who he can call to squeeze in a quick 9 with before dinner.

Calling a guy out by his name on this board is tacky and cowardly. You know it!

By the way what's your name?

Start hiring 500-600 pilots the day the CBA passed knowing the manning requirement was already dire, and only getting worse. Their poor planning and inability to operate an effective airline is NOT my problem. And I'll be damned if I'm going to stand up front like a trained monkey and try to calm the masses. I'm more angry than they are to begin with. Probably not the guy you want lighting the torches and passing out the whiskey and baseball bats.

Couple things…you don’t have a choice getting named in an email, right? Ok, he’s an outgoing type dude the people (and crew) tend to like. I definitely look forward to working with the guy. So what would you have him do…go around pretending to be some angry little blue muffin?

And I agree with HB. Anonymously sniping someone here…I’m sorry but it’s what a Weasel does.

I think the staffing issue is complicated but the CBA and was certainly exacerbated by Crew Plannings pairing optimizer blunder. Where it becomes mass critical is when the customer doesn’t care about cute commercial taglines or you tube campaigns. They’re sick of Jetblue burning them with a 6 hour delay into a cancel. Or being delivered to a destination that wasn’t on their ticket.

Our branding model is built on loyalty and quality. We’re not delivering. This is where the Chief and the CEO are essentially begging crew members to make the customer happy at all costs. First of all it’s a great ask because it’s free. We get paid to safely fly jets, not throw bags, smile, wink, do jokes, help grandma, play holiday tunes. You can do that stuff if you want and we all do because we’re not a bunch of a-wholes, but it’s embarrassing to make excuses. It’s not my fault. Why am I apologizing? Now I’m the face, voice and reason for their inconvenience and now anger. Have you had a customer say to your face in a rude and abusive manner, “Have a nice rest!” After you timed out on a 13 hour day with 3 legs and a divert?

Profit sharing is gone and not coming back. The only way to fix things is a staffing plan that supports an operation that faces the challenges of northeast flying. We’re not doing that. It’s more of a Captain staffing problem too. That’s a cost they don’t want to accept. So they’re paying in customer loyalty which may be developing into a Spirit model of if you pi$$ them off just find new ones.

-Bubs

Yeah I agree. Unfortunately it’s very easy for them to ask to go above and beyond because they don’t have to pay a price for it. They take away profit sharing (which is a form to motivate crew to go above and beyond) but then tell you to go do it anyways.

Calling someone out in here ain’t cool. I myself go above and beyond to the point of being caring for people directly. To do a job that ain’t mine isn’t what I consider above and beyond. No management is leaving their desk and problems to go help boarding a plane. We are paid to fly the plane. Checking bags?? Yeah that’s AOs job. Man I don’t even know how to check a bag.

Maybe next week’s blue hero will be a pilot that on his days off he picks up shifts as AO to help out.

Yep...

Point. Zero. Zero. Two.