Alaska Air performance improves
FOR JULY: Earlier on-time drop blamed on labor problems and start of summer schedule.
By SARANA SCHELL
Anchorage Daily News
Published: September 2, 2005
Last Modified: September 2, 2005 at 04:01 AM
Alaska Airlines' on-time arrival and other performance numbers in July improved from June, but are still worse than a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The airline continued to improve in August, spokeswoman Amanda Tobin said.
Seattle-based Alaska Air had the nation's worst on-time performance in June, when half of its flights did not arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, the official definition of "on time," the U.S. Transportation Department reported. It also ranked last in May.
In July, three of 20 airlines rated were less reliable than Alaska Air, with Airtran Airways at the bottom. Hawaiian Airlines was most reliable.
Tobin said last month that Alaska Air's reliability plummeted in May as labor problems coincided with the start of its busier summer schedule.
Union contracts with pilots, baggage handlers, flight attendants and others were under negotiation this spring as Alaska, like other airlines, sought major labor cost cuts. The industry is wrestling for profits amid high fuel costs, competition from low-cost carriers and airlines in bankruptcy, and passengers insistent on low fares.
At its Seattle hub in May, Alaska Air replaced 472 baggage personnel with employees of Menzies Aviation, the global company that handles Alaska Airlines baggage at airports south of Seattle.
Late flights and customer complaints rose quickly.
A safety complaint was filed with federal overseers that a plane flew to Anchorage loaded incorrectly, jeopardizing safety, in May when the baggage employees were swapped. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle said the complaint has been under investigation.
The airline dropped some flights for a few weeks earlier in the summer to lighten the workload.
Performance measures have been improving.
In July at Alaska Air:
• 64 percent of flights were on time, down from 79 percent a year earlier. Tobin said 69 percent of August flights were on time.
• 0.7 percent of flights were cancelled, the sixth best rate of 20 major carriers, down from 1.1 percent a year earlier.
• 8.5 baggage complaints were filed per 1,000 passengers, up from 4.8 a year earlier.
• 1.2 complaints were filed per 1,000 passengers, up from 0.36 a year earlier.
In an Aug. 17 letter to employees, Glenn Johnson, operations-improvement team leader, said baggage-claims problems remain high, but are lessening.
Hiring is under way for customer-service agents and 50 Anchorage baggage positions.
In July, the company started offering a $1,000 bonus to employees who bring in a new customer-service hire who lasts through six months' probation.
Morale is low in Anchorage, and many employees have quit or are looking for other jobs, said former baggage handler Jim Lewis, who quit this summer.
"I have a wife and four kids," Lewis said. "I really felt like I had to do something more secure."
Seattle is fully staffed, Johnson said in his letter.
"In addition, we've worked with Menzies to refresh their training in key areas such as load integrity and aircraft safety," Johnson said.
In September, after the summer peak, the airline plans to review its procedures for baggage handling, preparing arriving planes for departure and some maintenance, Johnson said. |
