Monday, January 18, 2010

Things Fall Apart?

Anyone who has worked at Frontier Airlines for the past 2+ years knows what the company and employees have gone through to ensure they have a place to call home. I know countless employees and the families of those employees that have sacrificed much to see their beloved airline succeed. Bankruptcy, pay cuts, lost friends, and broken promises are the steps involved for an organization in financial trouble to turn itself around and appear to be only a shadow of its once proud self. Some have said, and rightfully so, that this is the price of business mismanagement. For myself, Frontier Airlines truly represented the first employer that made me feel like a member of an extended family, that gave me a sense of ownership in the business, and gave me a voice.

Frontier Airlines employees are fiercely proud of their little airline. We know we are not the biggest or the most flashiest airline in Denver, let alone the entire country. We were not the highest paid or had the best benefits in the industry (far from it!). What set us apart was the camaraderie and the feeling that we were truly all in this together. A lot of people think that this is not "Show Friends" but actually "Show Business", that in the business world, the only thing an employee should be loyal to is a paycheck, because when the chips are down, the business will not be loyal to you. What set Frontier Airlines apart for me what that the business was operated largely with the employee's interests in mind and that if you take care of the employees, they will take care of your customers.

I started this blog because I had some ideas I wanted to jot down. I started seeing some cracks in the old foundation and noticed that ambivalence was starting to be substituted instead of compassion. People who loved coming to work now started to dread it. Work simply stopped being fun.

When thinking about what was going on at Frontier, the circumstances started to remind me of a book I read a long time ago: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Anyone who has read this knows the story of a villager named Okonkwo who rises to power of his tribe only to be exiled from the village after various misdeeds and one tragic accident. He later returns to find his village vastly different than when he left due to the colonization of the British which ultimately leads to his on self inflicted demise when trying to fight the conflict that one alien culture brings to another established culture. I can't help but notice the symbolism in that story and comparing it to the current events at Frontier Airlines. Does Republic Airways represent the British colonists? Does Bryan Bedford symbolize Reverend James Smith (no pun intended!)? Is Sean Menke actually Mr. Brown or Okonkwo?

The truth at the end of the day is that Frontier Airlines is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings. A new culture is clashing with an established culture. What remains to be seen is if the new culture can succeed even if it means driving away the reason the original culture was successful, the employees. Based on what I have seen so far, the colonists have not succeeded in winning over the hearts and minds of the conquered.

9 comments:

  1. I worked at Frontier right up until the bankruptcy and I can't say things were all that great. The company still had SABRE issues, we were not allowed to help the customer without putting all these "codes" in their reservation to cover our ass (thank you Paul Tate) Management was weak - I mean WEAK. Station management not showing up to work for a week - but calling from their latest "trip" to do things for them and turn in reports to HDQ. In my opinion, Jeff Potter and his team were the ones responsible for F9's bankruptcy. There was no clear direction and they were trying to be too much like United instead of being a whole different animal (which is a joke and should be taken off the side of the planes!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Didn't see this coming at all really? Is the whole Frontier staff this idiotic? Everyone at Southwest did, they knew Republic wasn't being upfront with you guys in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Frontier Mgmt., has never been perfect. However they did treat employees right and as a result we treated the customers right and Denver and the media liked Frontier. Now that BB is in charge all the employees are getting pay cuts and or being layed off, it is only a matter of time before Denver and the media turn against Frontier, like they have United in the past. This whole concept is way above BB's little head, he has no clue what it is like to manage real people from diverse back grounds. He is designed by nature to make people feel uncomfortable. Frontier management can never be accused of making people feel uncomfortable. It was not in their nature and BB doesn't stand a chance with his brain to take on Southwest or Airtran for that matter.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This airline is going downhill fast, just ask the customers...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, it's too bad BB doesn't actually talk to F9 employees, he might find some useful info. The universal comment i hear from F9 folks around the ol GO is that the Rjet folks from Indianapolis are coming out here with lots of hubris, treating experienced F9 folks in a condescending manner, eager to show their rjet superiors they can handle things. The BIG problem is their hubris is not letting them learn anything or consider there maybe good reasons for the way we do things. But, they are not learning. So, many F9 folks feel that since they are not listening, and full of ego, lets let them fail.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've noticed I've been working a lot of empty flights lately. Normally I would shrug it off as a nice treat, however after checking loads to cities I've always had toruble non-reving to: SEA,SFO,LAX,PHX,LAS,MCO,FLL,DCA,LGA, I've noticed they are all wide open, I mean WIDE open, today had 90 seats open on some flights and they had 15 people on the OKC/MCO route.
    I know this has nothing to do with BB and it is out summitt members fault and also the media, the mayor, employee's, weather, Southwest, United, the city of Denver the State of Colorado. If BB fails in Colorado you watch, he will quote all these reasons why, he will blame everyone but himself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Does anyone remember Menke saying we would be the largest airline in DEN after bankrupcy?
    United can't afford to compete and would scale back in Denver?
    We were supposed to advertise and kick butt, what ever happened to that. If advertiseing wasn't important no one would see southwest commercials every 10-minutes.
    Instead all the planes have been catered with US.Airways coffee cups.

    ReplyDelete
  8. VIRUS REMOVAL

    Is Your Computer Sluggish or Plagued With a Virus? – If So you Need Online Tech Repairs
    As a leader in online computer repair, Online Tech Repairs Inc has the experience to deliver professional system optimization and virus removal.Headquartered in Great Neck, New York our certified technicians have been providing online computer repair and virus removal for customers around the world since 2004.
    Our three step system is easy to use; and provides you a safe, unobtrusive, and cost effective alternative to your computer service needs. By using state-of-the-art technology our computer experts can diagnose, and repair your computer system through the internet, no matter where you are.
    Our technician will guide you through the installation of Online Tech Repair Inc secure software. This software allows your dedicated computer expert to see and operate your computer just as if he was in the room with you. That means you don't have to unplug everything and bring it to our shop, or have a stranger tramping through your home.
    From our remote location the Online Tech Repairs.com expert can handle any computer issue you want addressed, like:
    • - System Optimization
    • - How it works Software Installations or Upgrades
    • - How it works Virus Removal
    • - How it works Home Network Set-ups
    Just to name a few.
    If you are unsure of what the problem may be, that is okay. We can run a complete diagnostic on your system and fix the problems we encounter. When we are done our software is removed; leaving you with a safe, secure and properly functioning system. The whole process usually takes less than an hour. You probably couldn't even get your computer to your local repair shop that fast!
    Call us now for a FREE COMPUTER DIAGONISTIC using DISCOUNT CODE (otr214429@gmail.com) on +1-914-613-3786 or chat with us on www.onlinetechrepairs.com.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Problem: HP Printer not connecting to my laptop.

    I had an issue while connecting my 2 year old HP printer to my brother's laptop that I had borrowed for starting my own business. I used a quick google search to fix the problem but that did not help me.
    I then decided to get professional help to solve my problem. After having received many quotations from various companies, i decided to go ahead with Online Tech Repair (www.onlinetechrepairs.com).
    Reasons I chose them over the others:
    1) They were extremely friendly and patient with me during my initial discussions and responded promptly to my request.
    2) Their prices were extremely reasonable.
    3) They were ready and willing to walk me through the entire process step by step and were on call with me till i got it fixed.
    How did they do it
    1) They first asked me to state my problem clearly and asked me a few questions. This was done to detect any physical connectivity issues with the printer.
    2) After having answered this, they confirmed that the printer and the laptop were functioning correctly.
    3) They then, asked me if they could access my laptop remotely to troubleshoot the problem and fix it. I agreed.
    4) One of the tech support executives accessed my laptop and started troubleshooting.
    5) I sat back and watched as the tech support executive was navigating my laptop to spot the issue. The issue was fixed.
    6) I was told that it was due to an older version of the driver that had been installed.

    My Experience
    I loved the entire friendly conversation that took place with them. They understood my needs clearly and acted upon the solution immediately. Being a technical noob, i sometimes find it difficult to communicate with tech support teams. It was a very different experience with the guys at Online Tech Repairs. You can check out their website www.onlinetechrepairs.com or call them on 1-914-613-3786.
    Would definitely recommend this service to anyone who needs help fixing their computers.
    Thanks a ton guys. Great Job....!!

    ReplyDelete