How One of the Worst Airlines Turned Things Around

Every day I read the papers and scan the web for news about airlines and airport parking for my other blog. But yesterday, sadly, I got word that someone else would be taking it over. So I’ll no longer write that blog, even though I still enjoy finding tidbits about airlines and air travel. Hey, it’s still my business.

US Airways, reports the WSJ, has vaulted into first place for the on-time reliability after years of being the last on the list. Anyone who has flown this airline can recall the surly service, lost baggage and shoddy condition of their planes. But the higher-ups heard the customer’s complaints…and maybe in this day and age of airlines going under, they realized how important it was wake up and do better.

The way USAirways did it was to offer employees hefty cash payments for achieving goals, and building in more minutes between each flight so that the schedules more accurately reflected congestions at East Coast airports. But it was more, it was a better way of looking at their problems, most of which stemmed from the merger with America West, forcing an old East coast carrier into a much different, younger west coast company based in Phoenix. In Philly, US Air created a new ‘satellite headquarters’ with senior officials who could make hiring decisions, authorize spending, and get things done without having to ask Phoenix. They also hired 100 new mechanics, and began dealing with broken airplane things, making a list that workers jokingly called “NEF–or Never, Ever Fixed. They cut this list in half, and travelers began to notice that the planes were in better shape and the staff seemed friendlier. Must have been that money being dangled in front of them.

But the most pressing problem for USAir was lost baggage. Here the problems began when the airline lost its space in Philadelphia’s international terminal, so they couldn’t get luggage screened efficiently when passengers rechecked it on connecting flights. So the airline worked with the airport to build a new bag sorting and screening area, reducing lost bags there by 60%, and this change has rippled through their entire system.