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US Airways needs to reverse course

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published April 18, 2007

How long can a company keep giving bad service before customers take their business elsewhere?

That's turned into a front-burner issue for US Airways. The airline, headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., blundered its transition to a new reservations system last month, then stranded thousands of passengers during a big ice storm.

US Airways already held the dubious distinction as the major airline most likely to lose your checked bag in 2006.

"We just can't keep running an airline the way we've been operating it," chief executive Doug Parker told employees in a recorded message April 6. "Our customers won't stand for it." He correctly blames management for the breakdowns.

Now a group of elite-level frequent fliers say they're jumping to other carriers because US Airways executives seem unwilling or unable to deal with their complaints.

They organized five years ago to protest that management at the old US Airways took them for granted. They dubbed themselves cockroaches, customers the airline didn't want but couldn't get rid of.

Members say service has deteriorated since America West executives engineered a merger with US Airways and began running the new airline.

"People are just fed up," says Art Pushkin, co-chairman of Frequent Fliers Committed to US Airways Success FFOCUS, which claims more than 500 members. "People are bolting at a record pace."

The first bump came last year when the airline launched a Web site and merged the frequent-flier programs of US Airways and America West. Members couldn't access accounts or print boarding passes for days.

Combining the two reservations and ticketing systems last month went no better.

Self-service airport kiosks failed, causing massive lines at ticket counters in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Many passengers missed their flights. It has improved, but US Airways is still debugging the systems.

There's no evidence elite-level fliers are bailing out, says Travis Christ, vice president of sales and marketing. Elites flew 15 percent more in January and February than during the same months last year. But he's quick to add that everyone at headquarters is feeling the heat.

"There's no question a lot of customers lost or are losing their patience with us," Christ says. "We know we're at a breaking point."

US Airways is hustling to fix obvious problems and bring in new initiatives.

The airline will hire more airport customer service agents to fill anticipated vacancies during busy summer months. A new seat-back entertainment system with TV and on-demand movies is in the works, Christ says.

But there are signs of labor unrest that could undermine the airline's attempts to recover. Major employee groups, especially pilots, are grousing that US Airways still hasn't agreed to combined contracts for members from the old US Air and America West.

A local US Airways pilot says he's steamed to still be paid $25 an hour less than his counterpart at the former America West. He stopped doing tasks that aren't his job, like calling for late catering trucks.

On a FFOCUS bulletin board, a flier recounted a flight from Charlotte that was delayed due to a glitch in the new computer system. The pilot referred passengers to a page in the airline magazine with contact numbers for US Airways.

"Make sure you call or e-mail and let them know what kind of service we've provided today," he said.

Tempe, we have a problem.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified April 18, 2007, 10:00:44]