USAir (3 threads combined)

[hdawson]

I don't think you can cancel business transaction through the credit card company. However, if the business fails to deliver you can contact the credit card company and get the charges reversed. I think it must be done within 60 days of the first billing on your credit card.

[LoneStarJeffe]

Delta's price war will aggravate the problem of already poor airline balance sheets. Instead of competing by who can do the best job of flying passengers at the best price, the strategy seems to be who can bleed the longest before collapsing. :confused: :eek:

 

I agree with comment we should focus on issues and getting to ports and not union politics and bad management decisions. I raise this issue to broaden my warning about USAIR to warning that if you plan on flying in 2005, you should research alternatives. Even if you are flying on what are considered solid carriers at this point in time. I do not think anyone can predict who will be at risk by late summer. This entire industry is really in a state of flux.

 

Plan, plan, plan!!!

[Globaliser]

Globaliser. The union has said it will take no position on the vote.

Thanks - I thought I had read as much.

 

Oh well, we'll have to see how militant the rank-and-file membership now feel like being. At least they know they're out on a limb and not even the FAs are minded to bring down the airline any more, or at least at the present time.

[Christina1003]

Well gee, no wonder my subscription wasn't showing up....they changed the thread :confused:

[bilgeboyPa]

"Unions serve a purpose and for the most part they're there to protect the lowest people on the work scale. As with anything there are abuses--gee, look at the government--hopefully unions will help in stopping those abuses.

 

My father was just put into a nursing home, and he has people around him working for $6 an hour changing things I didn't want to change on my own kids when they were babies. These are the type of unskilled, under educated people that unions were intended to help." Quoted from Keifaber655

 

 

Keifaber,

By all means....Let get those unskilled people, put them in a Union and pay them 20 bucks an hour. They are still "unskilled" in your words, but pay them a bunch of money. Give me a break!!! And you really need a Union to drive a Plow truck...It's scarey hard to do that. Give your money to a corrupt Union..see if I care

[TheWog]

I'm thinking if I am flying on USAIR, but using UNITED's metal on January 21 I should be alright to get to FLL. On the way back I will just deal with whatever happens. Leg back is strictly USAIR. I think there are plenty of flights from FLL to MHT or BOS that I can catch.

 

Anyone thoughts from anyone one whether they think I am fine flying USAIR codeshare on United January 21?

[Christina1003]

I think I'm going to hold out until March, and then see how things stand. I really can't put out the $800 in refundable tickets right now from SWA. At least then, I'll have a better picture of what's going on, and can do it if need be. I can't see a flight that late on a Saturday night filling up very fast with seats anyway.

 

This is such a nightmare. :(

 

Anyone know how long it takes to get a refund back from SWA?

 

And how would you do this anyway - pre-checkin to both flights, to be sure that you didn't miss one that could be cancelled? But if you do pre-checkin, does that mean technically you *are* taking the flight and therefore not entitled to a refund?

 

So confused!

[bUU]

I recently read a message from a Southwest ticket agent who said that they typically process refund requests overnight, crediting the money back to credit cards. From there, it is presumably up to your credit card company to send you a check based on their typical customer service standards.

[Globaliser]

And how would you do this anyway - pre-checkin to both flights, to be sure that you didn't miss one that could be cancelled? But if you do pre-checkin, does that mean technically you *are* taking the flight and therefore not entitled to a refund?

If you are going to hold refundable tickets on another airline, you wouldn't need to check in for that flight unless and until you're confident that your original flight will not operate. You don't lose much by not checking in early - especially on Southwest - so you wouldn't need to go through the hassle of trying to remove yourself from a flight you've already checked in for.

[stillfrantic]

Does the lack of posts imply things are likely stable for the next few weeks? I sure hope so.

[bUU]

As far as I can tell, US Airways is safe through January 20, at this point. I believe that is the earliest that the machinists union could vote next.

[hdawson]

Bicker. Is there a large pmt due on the 15th on the Gvmt Gtyd loan?

[bUU]

Not a loan payment... they have to demonstrate a certain level of solvency after making their next lease payment to GE. I haven't read anything recently indicating that they won't meet that target.

[JandD Mom]

I will relay the story of my parents, who flew USAir today from Philadelphia to FLL. They arrived in FLL on time and had a smooth flight. However, one of their bags, my father's golf clubs, did not arrive on time. Nor did some bags for some other passengers. It was not as bad as the Christmas fiasco, but there were still a number of people with bag problems. They were told that they had forgotten to load a couple of carts in PHL and hopefully, they would be on the next flight.

 

There was also a flight that landed before theirs (from somewhere else) and there were a LOT of people missing bags from that flight. There were also a lot of cruise passengers arriving in FLL today.

 

The problem is, all of these people whose bags were missing were told to wait until the next flight arrived to see if their bags are on it. If you are leaving on a ship, USAir can't get the bags to you in time, so you are forced to wait around the airport if your bags don't show. So you will be spending the first few hours in the airport instead of enjoying your ship. :mad:

 

This cemented it for us -- we are going to use our Southwest ticket next weekend and forget USAir for this trip entirely.

[pasto5]

 

There was also a flight that landed before theirs (from somewhere else) and there were a LOT of people missing bags from that flight. There were also a lot of cruise passengers arriving in FLL today.

 

The problem is, all of these people whose bags were missing were told to wait until the next flight arrived to see if their bags are on it. If you are leaving on a ship, USAir can't get the bags to you in time, so you are forced to wait around the airport if your bags don't show. So you will be spending the first few hours in the airport instead of enjoying your ship. :mad:

 

This cemented it for us -- we are going to use our Southwest ticket next weekend and forget USAir for this trip entirely.

We are all packing in small suitcases and carrying our luggage onboard the plane. Then we won't have to worry about missing luggage! We are also flying Phil to FLL on Wednesday.

[CruisinMatt]

We are all packing in small suitcases and carrying our luggage onboard the plane. Then we won't have to worry about missing luggage! We are also flying Phil to FLL on Wednesday.

 

How can you go on a cruise and pack in small suitcases?? :eek: ;)

 

After thanksgiving I missed a connection because the 1st flight left late due to "excessive carry-on baggage" - Nearly 20 people had to have thier things checked due to lack of space in the overhead bins.

 

If you're planning on hauling it all on the plane, you better try to be one of the people boarding first or they still might check your bags.

[kely53]

We purchased cruise air for 15 and just returned from our cruise on 1/9. Eight of us were flying US air from scranton pa to pitt to orlando. We only had a 35 minute layover in Pitt and we were concerned that our bags might not make the switch. The flight was on time and we were happy to find out that all of our bags made it too. We also took the largest carry on luggage that we could in case the luggage we checked did not make it. We had 2 people traveling USair direct flight out of Phila and one of their bags did not make their flight but they chose to hang around the airport and it was on the next flight......they arrived in orlando at 11:30am and had the time to wait around (even though they were not happy about spending another 3 hours there!!). We had 2 people flying AA direct flight from LaGuardia and one of their bags did not make it. They had the time but chose not to wait around the airport to see if it came on the next flight. Their luggage arrived on Wed when we arrived in port. Because they booked through the cruise line, the cruise line offered them vouchers to buy anything they needed in the shops on the ship, included any formal wear. I dont know if I would purchase cruise air again, but in this case I am glad that we all did.

All of our return flights (Delta, USair and AA) were uneventful. I worried for weeks about these flights. I hope that all of you make out as well as we did. Karen

[pasto5]

How can you go on a cruise and pack in small suitcases?? :eek: ;)

 

After thanksgiving I missed a connection because the 1st flight left late due to "excessive carry-on baggage" - Nearly 20 people had to have thier things checked due to lack of space in the overhead bins.

 

If you're planning on hauling it all on the plane, you better try to be one of the people boarding first or they still might check your bags.

We are only cruising for four nights so that helps and we are not clothes horses. We are taking bare bones as far as clothes since we are going to have fun and not worry about having 4 outfits a day to change into! It has been something that we have thought out ahead of time as far as what we will pack. Plus we have 3-4 per cabin so not having big suitcases will help with the room once we get there.

I am familiar with them checking suitcases plane side but even if they check them , we get them as soon as we get off the plane. My husband and sons are carrying on their suits so we think we have things covered.

[stillfrantic]

Their planes aren't flying empty! I called to see what flights might be available to fly standby on, and all the flights prior to mine were almost totally booked...a seat here or 2 there...but basically full.

[hdawson]

Stillfrantic. True, most planes today are flying pretty full. It's too bad that their costs are greater than the revenue.

[Christina1003]

Interestng...they're willing to cut the steady workers they have's salaries, but bring in 'reinforcements' and pay them more?

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/011205_nw_usair.html

U.S. Airways Adding New Baggage Handlers

 

January 12, 2005 — US Airways, trying to prevent another breakdown in service like the one that took place over the Christmas holiday, said it plans to add more than 200 employees to load baggage and do other work in and around airplanes at Philadelphia International Airport.

 

 

The airline said it would import workers who have been laid off in Pittsburgh and elsewhere and offer them higher starting pay. The company said starting pay for part-time workers would increase from $7.40 an hour to $9.59 an hour.

 

Over the Christmas holiday, hundreds of flights were canceled and thousands of bags piled up in what the airline's chief executive, Bruce Lakefield, called an "operational meltdown" that stranded holiday travelers and prompted a federal investigation.

 

Airline management blamed the problems on unexpected numbers of flight attendants and baggage handlers calling in sick, while employees' unions blamed poor planning by management.

 

US Airways had about 1,000 baggage handlers at the airport when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 12, but attrition has reduced that number, officials said.

 

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

 

Last Updated: Jan 12, 2005 Back

[hdawson]

I doubt those positions (or any others) will last very long. I'm afraid it'll soon be the "defunct" USAirways.

[Globaliser]

Their planes aren't flying empty! I called to see what flights might be available to fly standby on, and all the flights prior to mine were almost totally booked...a seat here or 2 there...but basically full.

I suspect that they're filling the aircraft by selling tickets at any price that they will go for, just to keep cash rolling in - and even if the prices they're charging are totally unprofitable. Sometimes, cash flow is more important in the short term than the profit number, and US is probably in that position right now.

 

It just goes to demonstrate how crazy the whole Chapter 11 thing is. The airline should be dead by now, twice over - yet it's now dragging everyone else down with it while it's on this form of artificial life support.

Interestng...they're willing to cut the steady workers they have's salaries, but bring in 'reinforcements' and pay them more?

The difference may be that the "steady workers" who have left had full time jobs, but they intend to put these new workers on irregular part-time working.

 

One of the things about airline operations is that they are very peaky - and it's very expensive to have lots of employees hanging around in the troughs doing nothing. That goes for peaks from hour to hour during a day, day to day during the week, and month to month during the year. We can all work out when they need more manpower, and when they need less.

 

Part-time jobs with irregular hours, sometimes on a call out basis, is one way of keeping your total costs down while you try to service this. Unions often hate it, particularly when they're not used to a company doing this.

[TravelingDi]

It was just announced that the Air Transportation Stabilization Board has agreed to extend the airline's use of cash proceeds from its federally guaranteed loan through June 30, 2005. This was the next stumbling block that the airline needed to get through. The bankruptcy judge need to approve it this afternoon - and that shouldn't be an issue. The airline states that they plan to emerge from Chapter 11 later this summer.

 

A glimmer of good news - especially for those of us who are traveling tomorrow.

[TheWog]

It was just announced that the Air Transportation Stabilization Board has agreed to extend the airline's use of cash proceeds from its federally guaranteed loan through June 30, 2005. This was the next stumbling block that the airline needed to get through. The bankruptcy judge need to approve it this afternoon - and that shouldn't be an issue. The airline states that they plan to emerge from Chapter 11 later this summer.

 

A glimmer of good news - especially for those of us who are traveling tomorrow.

 

I heard the same this morning. Looks like I will get through my flights next week.