[airhead]

If you want to help me you have to understand where I am coming from and have a burning desire to change the way most airlines operate and treat customers. Coming to this site is not enough but it is a start. I have dedicated myself to learning many key things outside the scope of just being an employee. I am studying other aspects and it will take me years but I am going to make an impact even if it might be small.

Please read this account very carefully and with an open mind. These problems effect more than just passengers.

I would have stayed with the job under the premise of keeping my enemies closer than my friends but the job was killing me literally. The hours were unbearable some weeks...the passenger verbal attacks about all kinds of things including the new fees were stressful (2008). I understand being ****** but it is not the agent who creates the fee rules. And to top it off, my manger was rarely present during the day to day operations and when she had to show up she was not happy. A real "bitch session" was in order.

I was given the official duty to rebook people, take care of ticket problems, handle customer complaints, answer many delay questions from irate passengers, inspect boarding passes, perform calculations, create delayed bag files, search the aircraft when someone forgot their cell phone (which is next to impossible to get an accurate seat number from the passenger because they forgot and lost the boarding pass), if someone mentioned a bad word like "bomb" even in a joking manner I had to deboard the entire flight and start over, put up with passenger delay concerns while trying to fill out a police report. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Let me continue that my manager refused me the official training that required 6 weeks of being away from "work." That means I was learning the computer commands, ticket rules, customer complaints, cargo rules, acceptance of certain dangerous goods like dry ice, accommodating stand by, figuring where to put a passenger with a lap child and all the ticket rules with it the hard way. In my opinion safety should not be left to trial and error!

The computer commands are difficult and I am a very very computer savvy person. It requires knowing how type an an entry like ( I changed the example to protect the security which is always important but you will get the idea)

GT32 SMITH1/3 LAXBOS18OCTNN1 LAX PIT BOS 0010104858383885

This would be just one entry to check in one person..if the passenger had other things like a passport to be checked or if the id was in need of checking then a another entry that was about as twice as long was needed.

If the passenger did not tell you something that was important like "I need to sit next to so and so since I am flying with them"...that would require another entry and checking the seat map...it goes on and on for special needs.

Don't get me started on Air Marshals who are armed. That requires more special entries and they have to be on time and for the most part they are but if their is a really long line that is difficult. I hated delays just like a passenger did but I had to stop for stuff like this going over the bible of entries to get them checked in which took time. I don't blame the airline for this but I do blame my manger for not having enough trained persons on duty to take care of this in a timely manner. It is important for commerce.

In addition to complicated command entries, I had to understand all the ticket rules and codes for the command entries to work. How am I to know this stuff without training? I did the best I could but I was on the phone most of the time trying to find another agent to help me whom was surprised a little that I was in the position I was but did not know what to do.

The following was the ice on the cake for me.

One morning I reported "manditory"..a word my boss liked to use...to work at 8am on my day off after getting off the previous night at 11pm from working since 9am that same day. I was tired and hungry and decided to stop somewhere to get something to eat. When I walked in the airport with my bag of food, the line of passengers was about 70 or 80 people thick with ONE agent working the line.

"Where is my boss who called me in who is supposed to help during times like this?" I asked myself...

I decided to eat my breakfast since that was more important than anything else to me.. I was really tired and hungry...it had already been a long week. 2 days before I was scheduled to work 5am to 1pm but I got off at 830 pm because of the ongoing weather problem that was relentless for nearly 3 months straight everyday.

I was pulling so much over time that it would have been great if I had the time to spend the money but I barely had time to figure out what to eat much less pay my personal bills.

After spending 10 minutes eating my meal I walked to the counter and was greeted by woman who wanted to ship a live animal (bird.) I never had this before so naturally I was asking the (already tired and frustrated) agent next to me what to do.

"Check focus!" is what I was told. I did not know how to use focus. Focus is the part of the reservation program that tells agents the rules and entries for every circumstance an agent will encounter on duty. The problem with it is it requires the knowledge of command entries to use it. I have to know how to use the computer to know how to use the computer in other words.

With animals, special rules apply like temperature requirements at every connecting city apply. Food, water, declarations from the vet are also required. Try figuring this stuff out when minutes are left for a timely departure is stressful.

My manger called me into her office the next day and chewed me out for eating before I went to work. I chewed her back. At this point I did not care if I lost my job. The conditions were unbearable already. I made my terms and walked out. I kept my job but it was not easy.

2007 still had weather problems and it did not stop until the next year.

I ended up quitting and that was on of the happiest days of my life.

I have so many other accounts but I will leave you to this one. If you really want to make a difference you have to share what you know about the laws. I want to improve the working conditions for employees and improve the product offered by the airline. It is possible. Government legislation makes it hard but I will not give up.

I know of so many government officials and employees who have "cush" positions with the airlines and they take advantage of the benefits and that pisses me off because they have more weight than an employee does. I am not sure what they do in many circumstances but I am sure they are visiting relatives every few weeks to the same city on our dime.

I am willing to bet my reputation on it.