American’s approach to “D0” or pushing back exactly on time is often to have managers stand on the jetway yelling at flight attendants if a flight waits to be catered. Instead of getting all of the pieces in place to actually depart on time, being ready and catered with standbys and upgrades processed which requires staffing and work, they just measure employee performance and yell at gate agents who allow passenger boarding passes to be scanned close to departure.
Continuing the theme that employees just need motivation rather than resources or tools to do a good job, American Airlines has “One Team, One Turn champions” who are managers “with the mission of underlining the direct correlation between on-time performance and customer experience.”
6 indicators of Arrival and Departure Readiness Enabling a Successful Turn
At Chicago O’Hare one ‘Turn Champion’ worked with a local managing director to “educate the team on
arrival readiness” by creating the “Are You Ready” shuttle bus which takes employees from their parking lot to the terminal but the “free ride comes with one catch” employees are quizzed “on operational metrics” and have to discuss “how we can better work together to improve our performance.”
So far they report “a reduction in wheelchair-related delays” but even if there aren’t meaningful results that show up in better on time departure numbers they’re undeterred, “the shuttle is part of a larger, long-term transition toward a renewed focus on performance.”
The “Are You Ready” shuttle serves as a refresher course on major arrival and departure readiness indicators. It also functions as a safe place to discuss new ideas, share and receive feedback, and unite team members from all levels and departments.
..When the shuttle reaches the terminal, team members receive goodie bags for their time and participation.
A safe space to discuss operational performance isn’t among the top 10 things the airline can do to improve operational performance, but if employees get a ride and prizes that’s all well and good until hourly workers point out they’re on the clock for the time they’re receiving training and quizzes.
“A safe space to discuss operational performance isn’t among the top 10 things the airline can do to improve operational performance,”
Actually, soliciting operational ideas from line workers is absolutely axiomatic and fundamental to Lean operations. At the base of any well-functioning Lean organization you’ll see engaged line workers providing feedback up the chain. So while maybe enabling a ramp agent to pull the andon cord at ORD might be a bit extreme, empowering line workers to provide new ideas should always be welcomed.
@CW in practice they are quizzing front line workers not getting ideas from front line workers.
Hurry up and depart because all gates will be occupied upon arriving at your destination.
My recent TUS-ORD leg involved a vector over the airport and a right downwind to rwy 27R, the northernmost runway on the airfield followed by a lengthy taxi. You can plan your OT departures all you like, but if ATC has another plan, their plan is going to win.
AS
retired tin pusher
A rolling Kool ade van ,too many variables for this to work. End result is usually passengers and or bags left behind!
I have many complaints with AA, and most are not with the employees but with the way AA handcuffs thier staff from helping its passengers… Funny I was motivated to write defending the airline and here I am complaining about it..
Anyway I think this is great they are doing this, literally the best run organizations on the planet do stuff like this… The only problem is, this stuff only works if the employees Feel that the company stands behind this, supports them, has thier backs and doesn’t constrain thier ability to act on thier good nature and desire to fix customer issues.
Like good work AA (I mean it) this is great.. But for it to work, you gotta get your employees to buy in and the fact that whenever I approach someone from the airline, in the most polite, delicate and reasonable manner about (has something gone wrong its been an hour since our plane landed, are our bags coming? To an employee (unpromoted) offering to voluntarily trying to help a customer who just wanted to drop the last of four segments only to be told it would cost $457 to do so…) theres a 90% chance the employee starts complaining to ME about how bad the airline is, and honestly I don’t want to hear it… I know I made my choice to fly this airline, I know how bad it can be.. The fact that the employees complain to me? When I am literally just like “phoenix.” and the CSR says “through LAX??” and I say “it was a reward ticket” and they say “well that’s American we’ll make you pay!”
You pay your employees well, but you just don’t trust them enough to give them the power they need to make things better and demonstrate the trust you have in them. Until they feel the handcuffs come off you’ll never know how good they can be.