I am sitting in Pittsburgh airport right now on a 3 hour layover. The good news is that this is actually a pretty cool airport to be at (if you have to be at an airport for 3 hours). There are lots of food options and free wi-fi, even a pseudo mall, if you are into that sort of thing. I am certainly not!!
Anyway, when I commuted into St. Louis last night, I checked my mailbox as I usually do. It contained a respectable fist of memos. Most of them were the usual, “you can’t be doing this”, “we’ve taken away this right from you”, “you’ll be charged a ticket price via payroll deduction if you don’t ride a scheduled deadhead”, etc. In fact, one of the funniest was the implementation of the COFT. This is a fancy acronym for an incredibly important group of people. A group which without the tireless work of, we’d all be doomed. This is the Cabin Odor Task Force!!!!!!! I, mean, really? I am speechless here.
*crickets* *crickets* *crickets*
Anyway, to make a short story even shorter, we have to fill out a special form now whenever we smell something funny in the airplane. There are fancy boxes to check and several sections with various descriptors to circle. Then the form gets turned into the FORCE! They will then sit around the board room table and talk about the odors.
*crickets* *crickets* *crickets*
Ok, on to the good news!! On Aug 5th, the company released a memo stating that due to higher levels of attrition than predicted, the number of furloughs and downgrades are being reduced. Then, 2 days later, our crack management team decided again to reduce the numbers down. So, as it stands right now (mind you, I haven’t been to my mail box in 12 hours now), the original downgrade/furlough numbers of 20/38 (which were to occur on Aug 31st) are now at 5/12. So 26 folks have been temporarily spared losing their jobs. This is good news to me in the short term because it substantially increases the chances of me avoiding reserve for my remaining months. There is still a chance, but less of one. A solid step in the right direction.
Here is a thought: What if….people continued to leave (because this company is dying. My days are likely numbered too. Even if I escape the furlough, unless this company turns around and shows some potential to keep my career on target, I am out at the first viable opportunity), they will likely modify the numbers again in short order. What if they have to start calling back already furloughed folks to staff the airline, just to dump them again once the Eagle planes go offsite? I mean, there is just no end sometimes to the lack of foresight around here. Its no different than a lemming. He just goes to what is right in front of him, full speed. Hang something new and he’ll go after that. Think, people, think! Here is an idea!!! Stop the furloughs. Wait a few months to let the newness of this problem wear off, gauge the true extent of the crisis out there, who is hiring, what is the attrition rate, etc, then make an educated decision, while staying conservative, to furlough.
Alright, I am off to Hartford, CT. Leaving out of gate B33 in 50 minutes. Catch you later!