DISCLAIMER: I have never watched Undercover Boss before. I watched last night for the main reason I am indeed a Frontier employee. Before I get into the show I wanted to state a few things. First of all, I was a Midwest employee for over four years before the merger that officially brought Midwest, Frontier and Republic Airlines together as one. Now as I approach my five year anniversary as a ramper, this show airs and I have to say I was a little skeptical going in. I have personally only met Brian Bedford one time, and he seemed very nice and unlike my past big boss, never gave me a reason to dislike him. Plus him bringing in our current management staff that is turning around our ramp operations in Milwaukee is definately a plus in my book. That being said, I am not going to take this oppurtunity to trash talk him. This is not because I am posting this where he or any other management people can see it and get in trouble. It's because I don't feel it's necessary to make my points. Some people I work with will not agree with everything I will have to say in this review, some will. I am not here to please everyone, I'm here to give my honest opinion and view on subject matters, and this is one of them. Thank you.
Opening-Explaination of the Company
I have to thank them for having him explain everything. I've been living this merger for over a year now and even I get confused sometimes. Hearing Brian literally say everything that I've been saying to Mandy for the last year, venting and just trying to figure things out. I also appreciated the fact that he mentioned the 10% cut in Denver when Frontier went bankrupt. The only thing I wish they brought up was the fact that Republic bought Midwest to save us from going bankrupt as well. Also there were alot of hardships here in Milwaukee that weren't mentioned, but I will let that slide to the fact that they are basing the episode in Denver.
Meeting the Bedford Family
Wow, he has a big family. Eight kids?!? More power to him and his wife. I also didn't know he was so religious. I actually have alot more respect for the man now that I know these things about him. It's good to know. I did love the reaction his young daughter had to his undercover disguise, very funny to me.
Presenting Richard Jacobs
This is the part I was most wondering about. Brian is one of the most recoginzable figures in the airline business right now, especially in Denver, Indy and Milwaukee. They really have to disguise him well for this to work. That's why when I saw the wig and glasses, I saw they got it right. As a bonus they also explained the one thing I was wondering, where the cameras are. In the fake-reality of the show, Richard Jacobs is on a reality show where he is one of two candidates for a job at Frontier. While, I admit, it does seem VERY far fetched, in 2010 anything is possible. With that being said, it's time for him to get into training on the job.
Grooming-Denver, CO
We meet Sue, who will teach him how to groom an aircraft. This is a part of the job that is new to the rampers in Milwaukee to be honest. For years we had a seperate grooming staff to do this job, until just over a year ago, especially the day people, never had to groom a plane. Grooming is just another way of saying clean the plane. Pretty much, collect garbage, clean underneath and between seats and the seatbacks, and also internal cleaning the lavs and the galleys. (also if there's time, vaccum it as well) What made this interseting is the "7 minute" grooming turn they explained. That has changed since this was taped, there is more time given to change over a plane. As for everything that Sue said during "union lunch" (that line made me laugh) about her son, it made think of alot of people I work with. There are alot people I work with that put up with alot of shit at home and come to work with a smile of their face despite it.
Ramp/Counter Agent-Oklahoma City, OK
We meet Valerie, who is a cross trained agent. This was interseting to watch for me because I have friends in Columbus that are cross agents. First of all, it was great to see that working on the ramp itself isn't as easy it looks. The agents make it look so simple, but as trainees always learn that this job is hard till you get the hang of it. As for the cross agent part, we don't have that in Milwaukee, even though alot of us can do that job, we don't have to. I do agree with him that it's gross to sweat as much as we do outside and then go up to the ticket counter and be around customers. It's not a good presentation or even that professional looking.
Flight Attendant-Denver, CO-San Diego, CA
First of all, we meet Tui, you is by far one of the best flight attendants I've ever seen. This is part of the job I don't do. The one thing I laughed at was the fact that he was TOO social that the flight went out left. Also, watching him totally mess up the annoucement made me laugh. I think this showed how hard flight attendants work on a flight. It's not as simple as it seems. Hearing him talk about how hard it is the make ends meat doing this job in general. The fact the needs this job, and two other jobs and his wife works two jobs just to make due. The thing that I will say about that is this. I would love more money on my checks, but wouldn't we all? The fact that they completely addressed this made me feel good. I agree with Tui, I don't want much else really, just money and maybe some more effort made towards us as employees. I know it's rough, we are all going through alot right now but top priority should be to make your employees happy.
Lav Agent-Denver, CO
Ah the part of the show that every ramp agent, in every city, was waiting for. Watching Brian Bedford do lavs. We meet Hector, who is going to show Richard how to probably clean the lavs. I know there was alot of people who watched this and were like "gross!", well this is part of the job. If done right, it's a VERY easy job. I laughed really hard when he got nailed with blue juice, I think alot of people did. Hector did get into working extra hours and how much people do to keep this company alive. He really sounded like alot of people I work with on a daily basis. He also mentioned the fact that every ramper is like a part of a big family in their city. It's totally true, a very dysfunctional family, but still. Once you put on the uniform, you are one of us. No one wants to see anyone get fired or to quit for bull shit reasons, it hurts all of us because it affects all of us.
Return to being CEO
Watching Brian in the meeting with management was totally encouragement. It made me feel good about the company as a whole. It's awesome to see and hear. I know alot of people probably don't look at it that way, but I look at as Brian is trying to help build the company properly, something hasn't been done in YEARS.
Revealing that he is Brian Bedford not Richard Jacobs
I read on facebook last night that people had issues with this part because he gave stuff to the people that helped him over the course of the show. I had no problem with this. The facts are, THIS IS A REALITY SHOW. At the end of shows like this there has to be something done that shows that he learned what he said he was going to. This shouldn't be looked into that deeply. I saw the fact that Brian is a good guy, he's willing to do anything for this company, these were the little things that will lead to bigger things down the road.
Final Thoughts
As an employee of Frontier Airlines, seeing this episode helped me feel good about myself. For the first time I don't feel like the lowest scum on earth or the bottom of the barrel in the eyes of the bosses. I'm happy to see that changes are happening and will continue to happen down the road.
