PHL....USAirways Express Terminal "F"
05-24-2012, 09:29 PM
#1
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Joined APC: Jul 2007
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PHL....USAirways Express Terminal "F"
"F" is right....failure.....
Were there lots of delays....cancellations.... etc... oh yes....
That I can live with.....but the absolutely snarky attitudes of the gate agents as well as their total failure to even remotely try and keep people up to date as to the status of flights....etc... pathetic.
Today was the day where the could have "earned the loyalty of customers"...epic failure by the agents. Personally other than the delays...5 hours worth I was okay.....but the rest of the traveling public in Terminal F....specifically gate 18-23... were pretty ticked off...and NOT at the delays... at the utter ruddiness and callus attitudes of the those working the gates. I know its hard....but you have to at least pretend to offer some customer service. Believe me...most of the people though frustrated with the delays and cancellations were more ticked at the total lack of customer service.
Felt bad for the flight crews.....they explained to any that would listen about the delays...... that would pacify most of them... then someone said ..pointing at two gate agents... "well whats their excuse".....
I was in that gate area for nearly 4 hours... there were 5 different agents working flights......ONE was doing a good job keeping people up to date on her flights.. but the other 4..... not so much.
Not much good will earned in Philly Terminal F today....
Were there lots of delays....cancellations.... etc... oh yes....
That I can live with.....but the absolutely snarky attitudes of the gate agents as well as their total failure to even remotely try and keep people up to date as to the status of flights....etc... pathetic.
Today was the day where the could have "earned the loyalty of customers"...epic failure by the agents. Personally other than the delays...5 hours worth I was okay.....but the rest of the traveling public in Terminal F....specifically gate 18-23... were pretty ticked off...and NOT at the delays... at the utter ruddiness and callus attitudes of the those working the gates. I know its hard....but you have to at least pretend to offer some customer service. Believe me...most of the people though frustrated with the delays and cancellations were more ticked at the total lack of customer service.
Felt bad for the flight crews.....they explained to any that would listen about the delays...... that would pacify most of them... then someone said ..pointing at two gate agents... "well whats their excuse".....
I was in that gate area for nearly 4 hours... there were 5 different agents working flights......ONE was doing a good job keeping people up to date on her flights.. but the other 4..... not so much.
Not much good will earned in Philly Terminal F today....
05-25-2012, 04:53 AM
#2
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Position: Canadair Gosh
Posts: 609
Welcome to Philly, and "the kid's terminal"
All of terminal F is Piedmont ground handling and gate agents, and all of the Piedmont aircraft fly out of those gates, so you would thing they would have their highest caliber gate agents working there. (snicker)
All I can say is that is how Philly F rolls. Screw customer service, you're making me late for my break.
All of terminal F is Piedmont ground handling and gate agents, and all of the Piedmont aircraft fly out of those gates, so you would thing they would have their highest caliber gate agents working there. (snicker)
All I can say is that is how Philly F rolls. Screw customer service, you're making me late for my break.
05-25-2012, 04:57 AM
#3
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A good friend of mine travels a great deal. Years ago he learned to avoid terminal F, and he simply does not book anything that touches it -- ever.
He is United Global Services and lives in the northeast. Your guess as to how much revenue Terminal F has cost USAirways is as good as mine, but it clearly is a great deal.
He is United Global Services and lives in the northeast. Your guess as to how much revenue Terminal F has cost USAirways is as good as mine, but it clearly is a great deal.
05-25-2012, 07:35 AM
#7
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Posts: 127
Welcome to Philly, and "the kid's terminal"
All of terminal F is Piedmont ground handling and gate agents, and all of the Piedmont aircraft fly out of those gates, so you would thing they would have their highest caliber gate agents working there. (snicker)
All I can say is that is how Philly F rolls. Screw customer service, you're making me late for my break.
All of terminal F is Piedmont ground handling and gate agents, and all of the Piedmont aircraft fly out of those gates, so you would thing they would have their highest caliber gate agents working there. (snicker)
All I can say is that is how Philly F rolls. Screw customer service, you're making me late for my break.
I wouldn't blame it all on piedmont, piedmont runs a good portion of clt and many other stations and do a decent job of it. PHL is not exactly the gem of the northeast, it's hard to get good help,but what do you expect to attract when you're paying $8/hour.
05-25-2012, 07:52 AM
#8
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Originally Posted by HercDriver130
That I can live with.....but the absolutely snarky attitudes of the gate agents as well as their total failure to even remotely try and keep people up to date as to the status of flights....etc... pathetic.
Taco bell wages=taco bell workers. When you pay people $9.00...you aren't going to attract the type of applicants who take pride in their job. As a commuter, I realize I'm not a customer but if some of the gate agents I've come across treat paying customers 1/2 as bad as I've been treated then its absolutely shocking. There definitely needs to be more integrity checks to weed out some of the worst gate agents.
05-25-2012, 08:56 AM
#9
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Position: A319/20/21 FO
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The statements about the low wages and the resultant poor customer service from the Piedmont employees on F are accurate. (I don't condone it, though ... you know what the job pays ... if you want to keep it, do it well. If you don't, then quit and give it to someone who does. That crappy $9 an hour is more than a lot of unemployed people are earning these days.)
There are some other things that make the situation worse, though. First, the construction. "F Hell" is in the midst of a major remodel that will make it a dramatically nicer facility than it is now. However, until that is done, they are short gates (some are closed to make way for the upgrades), they're using a temporary bus stop, most of the food vendors - including the entire food court - are closed during the project, and there is even less space to sit than usual. Add to that the fact that weather delays and cancellations tend to be disproportionately borne by the Express fleet and you have a recipe for disaster.
Example ... we had a few hours this week where PHL was below Cat I minimums. NONE of our 50-seat RJ or turboprop affiliates are Cat II capable. Republic is, but they don't park at F. When that happens, the RJs and Dash 8s all wind up diverting, turning a 1 hour delay in to a 3 hour delay that cascades all day long. Add in flow control from non-optimal runway configurations in poor weather, and it gets ugly fast.
I'm not defending the situation at all. I am saying some of it is temporary, as a result of the construction. Some of it could be fixed with better pay, or by lopping a few heads among the agents. And some of it ... weather days and full airplanes ... are a cost of doing business and are borne by every airline when the Wheel Of Fog lands on their particular hub.
There are some other things that make the situation worse, though. First, the construction. "F Hell" is in the midst of a major remodel that will make it a dramatically nicer facility than it is now. However, until that is done, they are short gates (some are closed to make way for the upgrades), they're using a temporary bus stop, most of the food vendors - including the entire food court - are closed during the project, and there is even less space to sit than usual. Add to that the fact that weather delays and cancellations tend to be disproportionately borne by the Express fleet and you have a recipe for disaster.
Example ... we had a few hours this week where PHL was below Cat I minimums. NONE of our 50-seat RJ or turboprop affiliates are Cat II capable. Republic is, but they don't park at F. When that happens, the RJs and Dash 8s all wind up diverting, turning a 1 hour delay in to a 3 hour delay that cascades all day long. Add in flow control from non-optimal runway configurations in poor weather, and it gets ugly fast.
I'm not defending the situation at all. I am saying some of it is temporary, as a result of the construction. Some of it could be fixed with better pay, or by lopping a few heads among the agents. And some of it ... weather days and full airplanes ... are a cost of doing business and are borne by every airline when the Wheel Of Fog lands on their particular hub.
05-25-2012, 10:22 AM
#10
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i get the WX delays... and the ATC East coast corridor delays... and most of the people in F last night did to.... but the Gate agents were just horrendous.... and while I sympathize at the low pay..... I also agree with the poster who said if you don't like it... quit and let someone else have a shot....
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