A rampies view

[Guest rampieyyz]

I've been reading this forum for quite awhile & I just need to let you hear a rampies view. I know most of you pilots & AME don't give a sh*t about us and consider us the low of the low but here's my views.

I've worked for Air Canada for 25 years. My Dad was a load agent for 36. I've been involved with this airline all my life and worked around airplanes for over 30 years. I've taken flying lessons but couldn't afford to go all the way.

I'm 47 years old & from talking to others in the airline from management to pilots to rampies I feel I'm just about as informed, competent and smart as any of you.

Air Canada is in deep trouble. Believe it or not we are in the service industry. That is our jobs. Not to manage employees, not to pilot planes, not to fix them, not to load them. We are working to move people from 1 place to another safely and make that trip enjoyable so they will fly on us again. We have been doing that for 65 years & not much should have changed. The passengers are our bosses who pay our salaries. West Jet is keeping the masses happy because they have a young group of employees who enjoy their job mostly because it's new & exciting. AC is old & all those little (and big) things add up and make us bitch & moan and not enjoy it.

The safety part we do very well!! The rest is garbage. Air Canada (as a company)has ceased trying to please passengers. Right now their objective is to save as much money as possible at everyones expense & to squeeze out every last penny from all who fly.

Some of the employees are the only ones that are trying to make the passengers happy, but are having a very hard time because of company policy above and other employees worrying far too much about things that they will never be able to change instead of worrying about job 1. THE PASSENGER!!!

The way things are going no one will want to fly this airline because all we seem to do is p*ss people off. All the news in the papers is about discontent employees. All our jobs have been affected. The sales people in YYZ are just getting shafted & these are the people who make or break the passenger experience.

I don't think I've ever read a posting from a sales agent here. They are the smart ones I think & leave their work at work & don't have time for this. They deal with company policy with no back up from management. Those people deserve every cent of their wages!

This is a warning people. Start doing your jobs. We all get a decent wage. If you don't like it here quit! No one is forcing you to stay. If you are better than what your union negotiated for you get out there and prove it. Find yourself a better job. This is a free market system so use it. When I worked in an office I was always on the look out for a better job. So were all the other computer programmers. We used the system because we negotiated our own deals. If your in a union you give up that right. That's the way it works.

So let's get on with it. We've had our whine, now get to work. Make the passengers flight the best that you are personally capable of and that's all you can do. Maybe management will get back to CUSTOMER CARE days again instead of this sigma six or idea action or any of the other sh*t that someone sells them. Make this thing work or get out. Simple as that.

See ya

DS

[Guest Rob Assaf]

COOL!

[Mitch Cronin]

Hello DS,

Sounds like you've got a great attitude, and I agree with you that we've *all* got to start doing everything we can to make sure the customer has a good experience.

*All*... That would include management. Air Canada is already somewhat notorious for treating it's employees badly. I've been where I am for almost 18 years now, working for many of the same people through 3 different airlines. Never have I seen such terrible treatment of employees.

-At Wardair we had a very weak union and managers that drove us hard, but they rewarded hard work and let us know that they appreciated dedication by making sure we received some plums and helped us climb whatever career ladders were there for us. Our customers were extremely happy.

-At Canadian we had a stronger union group with a lot of protection that sought to avoid any chances of favoritism, but still the company made sure we understood that efforts were appreciated. Our management teams were for the most part treated well and they returned that to us lowly grunts on the floor. Our customers were, for the most part, happy with our product.

- At Air Canada we have an extremely weak union, an upper management that treats both lower management and unionized employees like whipping posts... and lets us know, on an almost daily basis, that they consider us all to be their biggest problem. There is almost no recognition of good work, when it's due, and even simple courtesy's, like compassionate leave, are almost non-existent. Our customers... well, you know.

This isn't the end of the story. It's just a snap shot at the situation as it is today, and perhaps things haven't changed much over the years, but they certainly could change. Since I know I'm here for at least another 11 years, I fully intend to continue doing all I can to improve the picture. If Air Canada is to survive and prosper it's going to have to drag itself into the realities of this century... or at least, of the last century, where companies started learning that decent treatment of their employees actually improved their balance sheets.

Our interests are the same. We all know if customers like the experience they'll come back for more. All of us working here would like to see the product improve. But it seems, right now at least, that senior management has the attitude that kicking it's employees around the block a few times is the way to improve that product. Well it's hard to improve the experience for customers when you're feeling beaten and bruised. That sometimes seems to be a hard thing to put out of your mind.

BTW, I appreciate your comments to me in the thread below. As I said, I'm here to stay. I'll do what I can to avoid letting things get to me. I'll also do what I can to help improve this company. Both for the customer and the employee, who's best interests often overlap anyway.

Cheers,

Mitch

[Guest Max Continuous]

>> I know most of you pilots & AME don't give a sh*t about us and consider us the low of the low but here's my views. <<

I respect your post and agree with you except for the above in my own personal case.

In the development of my flying career, I was employed with Tri-L-Flight service in '75. A contracted ramp operation in YYC(old terminal). We used to off and on load, CP-Air DC-8's, PWA 737's, Hughes AirWest DC-9's, Western Airlines 707's and even oil company Lockeed Electra's, including their honey buckets.

Some of us remember all too well what working on the ramp was all about ... especially in winter blizzard conditions.

[Guest Max Continuous]

Come to think of it ... later I went to work for Boyd and Fielder and refuelled them all too.

[Guest V1V2Vgo]

Right on. WE are all a team, and, NO, rampies are not low. No bags, No Park, No Lav, etc., we do not go.

You can fish in my boat, or ride the jumpseat any time.

Regards,

V1V2Vgo

[Maranatha]

Coming from someone with one of the best views in this industry, the left-seat of a Boeing 767, may I say that this is one of the best posts I've seen on this forum, right up there with most of Neo's. DS, you're right on! I would, however, disagree with you about your opinion on the way pilots view rampies. I certainly do not feel that way, and on the rare occasions that I have had disagreements with the lead, I have usually sought him out and we've resolved the issues face-to-face. We do, after all, work on the same team.

Excellent post and keep 'em comin'!

Best Regards,

Iain Edghill.

[Guest Nail]

Nice Post,

I agree with your sentiments. The passenger is indeed #1, and has to be made to feel that way. The front line of defense here are the pax agents and F/A's. They have to be on their game, or the negative impression is burnt into the pax memory! Those that are good, (And many are!!) are worth their weight in gold, those who are "puttin in time", (and sadly some qualify here too!) are a huge liability to the operation.

We are all a team, and have to move on as such. As a Pilot, I have total respect for all employees (rampies too! they're an integral cog in the machine!) that try to "make the airline work". Those few that don't, as you say....

Please Leave!!!

Regards,

Dave Rogers

67' Skip

[Guest AME]

Rampie

I agree with everything you say with the following exceptions

1) I don't consider you "The low of the low"

2) If you don't like it here, leave

It is this second issue that I find so frustrating, and I have to say that I've only ever heard it from people who have spent their whole working life at AC. This is not a bad thing, it's just that, if you were to do a survey of the people who voice the loadest opinions on issues that they think are wrong, I think you'll find these are fairly new AC employees who know there is a different way.

I have only been at AC for a year, (I came from AirBC via JAZZ) and quite frankly, I'm at the point where I hope to be able to take you up on the advise offered

It's not that I don't like working here, it's just that some of the answers to our problems are extremely easy to solve, if you could find someone willing to make a decission, and who's standard response wasn't " That's the way we've always done it" or "If you don't like it leave"

Brett

[Guest Dash eight]

Great post rampieyyz. you are an integral part of the operation and not the low of the low.. that would be groomers LOl

Sorry....

[Mitch Cronin]

I'm with you on that last point Brett! (actually the first point too, I'm pretty sure maintenance staff are the lowest of the low!)

What the hell is wrong with trying to change, for the better, that which you see as being wrong?

I don't like much of it, but I need this job, so I want to fix what I don't like. I recognize that my vision of what would be better may not actually be any better, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't try! Especially when I'm not alone in what it is that I see as being wrong.

Where the hell would we all be now if a thousand years ago everyone had adopted the attitude that you should shut up if you don't like something about the way things are?

Cheers Brett.... I reckon you're one of the folks this company could do well with trying to keep around. I hope you don't leave.

Mitch

We're not robots.

[Guest woxof]

Nice post. But could you please pick up your wands and run over to gate 121 and marshall in that 67 that has been waiting for the last 10 minutes. Thanks.

[Alt*]

test

[Frosty]

DS:

Well said !!!!!!!

Cheers:

KW