UBS Financial Downgrades AirTran and Southwest Airlines

[ithisk]

I don't think that jetmech717 has to say that he's confused in order for everyone else to be aware of it. In fact, it would remove some of the humor from the situation if he was aware that he was getting eaten alive here.

[dbaker]

Originally Posted by jetmech717

First of all its not a ruling

I suggest that you take nugget's earlier advice and work on your reading comprehension a bit.

It's beyond absurd for you to try to persent yourself as an expert and discredit others when you don't understand the document that you're arguing about.

[jetmech717]

hey I already said you win this one!!!! Then why do you keep going with it. Is it because you have nothing else to go with? So the (Inspector) not Technician got fired, Even though he got fired for stealing money from the company (in the form of falsifying his time card). Look I work with the union steward who was involved on that case so I know the whole story, and you dont. But as I said before YOU WIN, YOU WIN. Now the only thing you will hear me defend is the Companies maintenance program because thats all that I am envolved with. Thank you for your time and my best wishes to the inspector in question.

[dbaker]

Originally Posted by jetmech717 on August 6, 2003

As far as an ex-employee sueing the Airline, I havent heard of this yet, It may be true. Why dont you post the site you got the info? Is it a machanic? was he fired from ATL or MCO?

Originally Posted by jetmech717 on August 29, 2003

Look I work with the union steward who was involved on that case so I know the whole story, and you dont.

For what it's worth, I've been following this case for over a year and have court documents dating back to July, 2002. Seems like you came up to speed about "the whole story" rather quickly (in comparison to me, I suppose) for someone who had never heard of this a couple weeks ago.

It's hard to imagine why you think anyone would believe what you say about maintenance practices at AirTran when you lie about everything else.

[jetmech717]

dont push it baker, I really dont keep in touch with the inspector to company relations in Tampa, Fla. So when you mentioned the lawsuit I knew nothing of it, sorry you thought I had more pull, but then I talked to the steward and he filled me in on the situation. All it proves is that we have better things to do in Atlanta (like keep an Airline safe and flying) then worry about an inspectors (in Tampa mind you) grudge with the company over getting fired for stealing. Now for someone who has been following the case for over a year I would think you would present all the facts, but wait then that wouldnt help your argument any now would it. Sorry we dont have a company news letter that post all the stations firings and hirings yet, but i'll let you know when we do so you can stir up some more stuff. Cant wait to see what you come up with next. Oh by the way, you have found (1) maintenance lawsuit with AirTran lets look at another airline shall we. http://www.untied.com/
Oh by the way good try on the unsafe maintenance line, I'm sure everyones going to buy it. yeah right!!!!!!

[B717mech]

okay, I was invloved with these arguments months ago. I now see it is time to reply. JetMech there is nothing we can do or say to convince baker or anyone else that AirTran is safe. In the same breath there is nothing that baker or anyone else can say that will convince us that AirTran is unsafe. So I don't see the need to keep going on and on with this. I will say this. Our passenger loads and our quaterly profits speek for themselves. I am sure that this site has taken some passengers away. I also believe that this site has gained us a few passengers as well. With that have a good day.

[djsamuel]

Originally Posted by B717mech

I am sure that this site has taken some passengers away. I also believe that this site has gained us a few passengers as well. With that have a good day.

AirTran's abysmal customer service is what is taking customers away. The LAST flight anyone in my family will take on AirTran occurred on June 26th. What was supposed to be a 2 hour and 14 minute flight took over 16 hours thanks to the incompetance of many people. And then I get back to work and hear all of the "I told you so's" from people who told me AirTran cannot handle problems anymore.

Then I write a letter to AirTran Customer Relations in early July. After a month without a reply, I wrote a second letter. Now two months later, I have yet to receive a reply of any kind.

Even though my wife's flight had to return to Orlando because an access panel was not properly secured and it came off in flight, I haven't questioned the safety of AirTran. But, their dedication to the customer is something I do doubt.

[B717mech]

DjSamuel,


What happened to cause that flight to take 16 hours? Do you remember the flight#? I'm sorry you had a bad experience on AirTran, I would hope maybe you will give us another chance. I am sure that there was something else that caused that flight to take 16 hours. Weather problems, ATC delays, Ground holds, Maintenance. Was the flight cancelled? Were you rebooked on another flight? I would like to know because I don't like it when things like that happen.

[djsamuel]

Originally Posted by B717mech

DjSamuel,


What happened to cause that flight to take 16 hours? Do you remember the flight#? I'm sorry you had a bad experience on AirTran, I would hope maybe you will give us another chance. I am sure that there was something else that caused that flight to take 16 hours. Weather problems, ATC delays, Ground holds, Maintenance. Was the flight cancelled? Were you rebooked on another flight? I would like to know because I don't like it when things like that happen.

The flight I described was a flight my wife took to attend a funeral in late June. In fact it was the first time she's ever flown alone, so it was a real learning experience.

The flight was delayed out of Orlando because of an air conditioning problem. After 45 minutes, the flight took off. About 15 minutes later, the pilot came on the intercom and said that there is an alarm signal for an air conditioning access panel that is either cracked, or off the airplane. In any case, they would need to return to Orlando for about an hour delay. That hour delay turned into 2 1/2 hours, and then the flight was cancelled. By that time there was no room on any of the other direct flights to Philadelphia, so they booked my wife on a flight to Atlanta, with a connecting flight to Philly. Her flight was scheduled to arrive in Atlanta around 2:35PM, and the flight to Philadelphia was scheduled to depart Atlanta at 3:15PM. In any case, the plane arrived in Atlanta at 3:00PM, and due to a problem with other traffic on the ground, was not able to get to the gate until 3:18. AirTran did not hold the connecting flight even though it was right at the next gate. The two planes passed each other on the ground. The only flight available out of Atlanta wasn't scheduled to leave until 11:35PM, so my wife (and the other passengers from the cancelled flight) had to wait from 3PM until 11:35 to leave. So, in summary, while she was scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia at 10:18AM, she didn't get there until 12:35AM the next day. The initial technical problem was something that happens, but the fact that there was a problem with the air conditioning access panel along with the other incidents (like failing to hold a connecting flight for three minutes) only served to make a minor problem much worse.

I also stated that I was bothered by AirTran's lack of response to my letter. I need to add that I finally found the right person to get in touch with. I emailed him last night, and by this morning I had his reply. He apologized for everything that happened with the flight and assured me that AirTran takes customer service much more seriously than this. He said he would be looking into what happened. He also refunded my airfare in full and provided two additional business class tickets. I didn't expect to get all of that, I was just hoping to at least get an acknowledgement of my complaints.

In any case, I'm taking him at his word and am willing to give AirTran another chance. Hopefully, the lack of response from customer relations and the poor handling of the flight problems were isolated incidents.

Thanks for your concern.

[jetmech717]

You said you fly alot,
So you know that not every flight is going to go smooth, Its aviation and there are multiple factors envolved to get a plane from point A to B, maintenace is 1, weather, Air Traffic controllers (at the departure station and the arrival can effect this), ground support equipment, baggage handlers.......I could go on forever (hell we had a plane powering back the otherday and a delta tug hit it, so that flight was messed up and the plane). So for the most part we get all these things to click, but yes there are flights and entire days were it seems we cant get a single plane out on time, but we as an Airline have to move on and prepare for the next day, and then hopefully take care of the inconvienenced people, and I'm glad to see that they finally got to you. Hope you have a better flight next time.