Stressed airline workers could hurt holiday travel
By Barbara De Lollis
USA Today
Workers at major airlines are showing signs of strain from salary and benefit cuts, threats to their pensions, demotions, layoffs and bigger workloads. And travelers are starting to pay.
In the past month, the FBI launched an investigation into whether employees punctured US Airways jets. Strike talk spread among flight attendants at United, US Airways and other carriers. And unusually high numbers of workers sought counseling services.
Psychologists and management experts say a demoralized workforce anxious about their pay, personal lives and job safety doesn't bode well for passengers during the busy holiday travel season.
That's especially true this season, as airlines carry a record number of passengers and lines at security checkpoints lengthen because of tougher requirements.
Stressed-out employees and irritated passengers "create a time bomb for explosive interaction," says Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych, an employee assistance provider.
As of September, ComPsych received about 20 percent more calls than last year from baggage handlers, flight attendants, pilots and other major airline workers.
The uptick — even greater at more-troubled carriers — indicates higher levels of stress, unhappiness and uncertainty, he says.
Even though fliers have come to expect less from their major-airline flight experience since the Sept. 11 attacks, research shows they've noticed a difference this year.
Their No. 1 gripe? Less-courteous flight crews, says Jonathan Barsky of Market Metrix Hospitality Index.
The index, based on surveys of 35,000 fliers, shows satisfaction falling since January, after reaching a two-year high. Similarly, the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that satisfaction with major carriers fell this year after rising last year.
"Customer satisfaction and financial performance tend to go hand in hand," Barsky says.
The airlines know that and are trying to counter the intense resentment felt by some employees, many of whom have worked 15 or more years for a carrier. Those people, in particular, feel overworked, underpaid, underappreciated and uncertain about their futures, Chaifetz says.
The country's six big traditional carriers will lose an estimated $8 billion this year — more than the $5 billion previously projected — in part because of low-fare competition and record-high fuel prices.
This month, Continental became the last of the six airlines to seek labor givebacks. The other carriers in the group — American, United, Delta, Northwest and US Airways — might not be finished squeezing workers yet.
"You have carriers still in bankruptcy and in precarious financial situations," says airline consultant Dave Emerson of Bain & Co. "There's no guarantee there won't be more pay cuts and layoffs going forward."
While the bad news continues, some carriers are revamping employee incentive programs and trying to improve communication with workers.
There's little dispute that employee morale is "hugely important," says Lee Macenczak, Delta's senior vice president of customer service.
"While self-service has grown in popularity, at the end of the day, it is about dealing with people ... and morale definitely plays into that," Macenczak says.
