OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
ESSENTIAL, UNDERVALUED AND DISAPPEARING


Every city in our Delta operational sphere has unsung heroes who work tirelessly every day performing essential tasks that often go unnoticed and unappreciated. Often managers lose sight of the value of each and every one of us and some have no concept of individuals’ collective contributions and sacrifices to make our customers traveling experience both memorable and safe.

Let me tell you about two such operational professionals working in de-icing in SLC; Richard Hunt and Kemp Snow. The two have a combined service record of almost 60 years in the Airline industry. Richard has not missed a day of work in 35 years of service, no missed sick days or missed OJI days, even though recently he fell off a de-icing vehicle and cracked a couple of ribs. He simply brushed himself off, laughed and resumed his responsibilities.

Many of you have heard about and seen the “car wash” type de-ice system utilized in SLC. In 1999, Operations took over the program from maintenance and Richard and Kemp re-designed and revamped the entire process. In the first year alone, expenditures dropped by millions of dollars.

In 2003 the de-ice program under their tutelage actually made a profit. During 2003 this dynamic duo initiated a new procedure called “Temp. Watch” which help dramatically reduce costs while maintaining strict governmental and safety guidelines. I would love to tell you the specifics of how they accomplished all of this but that would violate confidential and proprietary Company internal processes and policies. This is a competitive business and there is no sense in giving away trade secrets and advantages.

Not only is the system designed by Richard and Kemp cost effective and safe, it has proven to be exceedingly fast. The “Through-Put” (time on de-ice spot) time averages an industry best 5 minutes. This saves money in so many ways, (fuel burn, misconnects, turn times, etc.) Above and beyond everything else, Richard and Kemp understand that people’s lives are in their hands and that is never far from their minds. Flight Operations Manager David Dodge, a SLC based pilot describes this program as; “by far the best I’ve ever seen. The difference between night and day compared to contract stations.”

I had a conversation about these two operations experts with an HR Specialist, this person pined that Delta wished they had 100 of them. My answer to this individual was, “ You do have a hundred of them you just aren’t utilizing them.”

How many Richard Hunts have been contracted out over the last 7 years as Delta sacrificed operational excellence for temporary financial expediency and gain? The program that Richard and Kemp developed isn’t the real value, the knowledge and accumulated operational experience that they incrementally developed over years of dedicated work is what spells success and consistent professionalism.

How many times have you seen Delta try to recreate the mythical “Delta Spirit” with temporary contract or DGS workers only to watch it fail miserably? Successful operations are developed over years of stacked, incremental, mentored learning.

There is no such thing as an instant “out of the box” successful operation. It can’t be done. Aren’t you tired of having Ramp operations marginalized by bean counters and outside consulting firms who for a few million dollars think they can give us answers to our operational woes.

These people are largely useless and generally do more harm than good. If you want to know how to succeed in our business, go to the real experts, they were developed slowly in the bins of aircrafts, on top of wide-body loaders, in bag houses or freight warehouses. They honed their skills over years of trial and error and know the intricacies and details of connecting bags, pushing aircraft, skillfully figuring weight and balance, all doing it with a smile and a level of dedication that can’t be replicated.

You can take Richard and Kemp’s program but you can’t recreate the consummate professionalism that exists from their years of dedicated service. This experience comes from within not from an instructional manual.

We need to end this lunacy of contracting out our best and brightest and let the light shine back on our real value, our own people. Let’s unionize and protect the assets we have left. Let’s band together and bring professionalism and proficiency back to our passengers and customers.