In a steady climb to the top, US Airways has topped the airline quality rankings among the Big 5 network carriers. From the bottom of the pack back in 2007 the carrier has steadily climbed into the top spot.
I just spent a media day with US Airways in Phoenix. The normal dog-and-pony show from the corporate leaders wasn’t so normal. It showed dramatic improvement in many sectors. And it showed that US Airways, though they have been counted out regularly, has carved out a profitable position in the network-airline carrier world.
In an other surprise, at least to me, I learned that US Airways stock has outperformed all other airline stock during the past year.
Another surprise move by the airline is the in-sourcing of their telephone reservation staff. In 2008 almost half of the telephone reservationists were offshore. This has now been reduced to about 1/3. And it is projected that by October 2011 more than 90 percent of the reservations staff will be based in the USA. (That should merit an attaboy from Obama.)
I’ll continue the look into US Airways’ numbers tomorrow. They are a good story. Plus, as I have mentioned before, US Airways’ maintenance has committed itself to taking care of the little things such as seats that recline and overhead lighting that works. It does make a difference.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
