Aloha Airlines says Adios to Employees & Passengers in 1 day!

Aloha Airlines said Sunday (March 30, 2008) it will halt all passenger service after Monday (March 31, 2008), basically bringing to an end the airline that has transported passengers to Hawaii for over 60 years.

Aloha, which filed for bankruptcy for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 21, couldn’t keep up with the rising fuel prices and fierce competition a casualty of fierce competition and rising fuel prices. The airline said it will stop taking reservations for flights after Monday.

“We simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business,” said Aloha President David Banmiller in a statement. “We had no choice but to take this action.”

Aloha said tickets for flights after Monday will not be honored. It said it is working to have United Airlines accommodate passengers with tickets for Aloha’s mainland to Hawaii flights. It hopes to seat those with interisland tickets on Hawaiian Airlines.

Aloha has canceled Monday flights from Hawaii to the West Coast and between several cities in California and Nevada. It’s last day for interisland travel will be Monday.

Aloha advised passengers who don’t want to fly another airline and who want a refund to contact their travel agents or credit card companies. Those who paid by cash or check may file a claim in bankruptcy court.

The shutdown will affect about 1,900 employees.

WOW, so an airline can just give a one day notice to it’s paid passengers and employees?

Should airlines be required to give at least a 30 day notice to it’s paid passengers and employees?

www.FreshCustomerService.com

Can Starbucks be saved?

The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz revealed a laundry list of “saviors” for the struggling coffee giant.

During the annual meeting on Wednesday Howard made it clear that he was not going to go down without a fight.

Here are his suggestions for breathing life into the company:

New espresso machines- They will put in high-tech espresso machines in all U.S. stores. This shorter and faster machine will make the customer experience better.

New coffee ground fresh- The coffee used to make the daily drip coffee will come from fresh ground beans.

Networking site- In an attempt to pull the younger crowd into the doors, they will launch mystarbucksidea.com. This site will be used to get ideas and chat with customers.

Loyalty cards- The Starbucks Rewards Program will initially offer free extras to customers. I am not sure what happens after the “free period”

French-press coffee- A special French press machine will offer individual cups of brew

Green connection- They will do more with Conservation International, including making a financial commitment.

Giving the tough economic situation, do you think the “saviors” will save the coffee giant? Or should they just drop the price of their products?

www.FreshCustomerService.com

Employees will likely loose big at Bear Stearns

On Sunday JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase Bear for $236 million, or $2 a share — a fraction of its value even from the close of trading Friday — sent fears that there might not be much of Bear Stearns left when the merger is completed later this year.

At $2 a share the more than 14000 employees will walk away with pennies. This is so unfortunate.
The deal between JPMorgan and Bear was put together over the weekend to save Bear from both bankruptcy and possible liquidation. If approved by Bear shareholders, it will bring an end to the company’s 85-year-old history.

Bear’s employees currently own about one-third of the firm’s stock. For so long it was considered a point of pride and loyalty to own stock in the firm, and selling was frown upon.

Do you think employees should invest less in the companies they work for or is this just a case of bad luck for the employees?

www.freshcustomerservice.com