Some of US Airways' biggest cockroaches invaded Philadelphia earlier this month.
These "cockroaches" are more than 500 of the airline's frequent fliers. They coined the term two years ago after a US Airways official referred to travelers who refuse to always pay top dollar but want the elite perks as pesky freeloaders.
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They began to meet via cyberspace on the frequent flier Web site www.flyertalk.com and made up coffee mugs, lapel pins and luggage tags with a picture of a cockroach with the US Airways emblem on its back. They fly as much as 50 to 75 times a year on the Arlington-based airline. Many of them know the rules and regulations better than some of the airline's employees.
In December, cockroach Bob Johnson, a Mystic Island, N.J., sales trainer, contacted Christopher L. Chiames, US Airways senior vice president of corporate affairs. Johnson told Chiames that a group of the frequent fliers planned to meet in Philadelphia this month and asked offhandedly if he and some other US Airways executives would join them. Chiames accepted -- and arranged to bring nine other top executives with him. They included the heads of the customer service department, marketing and e-commerce.
So on a Saturday afternoon, about 60 of US Airways' most frequent fliers flew in from Washington, Los Angeles, Florida and other parts of the country for what was called Roachfest 2004, at a four-star restaurant at Lincoln Financial Field.
The executives came to hear about what the travelers think the airline can do better. The travelers came to hear about the future of their favorite airline -- or whether there's a future at all. But more important, they came to give suggestions about what the airline could and should do to survive.
"It could have very easily been a bitch session, but it wasn't," said Sol Brotman, a Jacksonville, Fla., dentist. "People came with problems and suggested solutions and we received significant information from US Airways about its future plans that were shared through good, frank discussions."
One of the biggest criticisms the travelers had was US Airways' antiquated Web site. These travelers prefer to purchase tickets online, but when they have difficulty navigating the site, get error messages whenever they hit the back space key or are unable to find available-seat maps, they leave frustrated.
The airline executives conceded that their site needs work and said they plan to unveil a new site next year. Chiames told the travelers that the airline stopped investing in the Web site four years ago because executives at that time believed US Airways was about to be acquired by United Airlines. But that plan was killed by the government in 2001, leaving US Airways to play catch-up on many things, including its Web site.
One of the bigger issues these travelers said the airline must figure out is how to give its best customers who purchase higher-priced tickets during the week, for work purposes, the ability to upgrade to first class on flights for which they happen to purchase a cheap ticket, such as on the weekend.
