Undercover Boss (2010) s02e04 Episode Script
Frontier Airlines
Male announcer: America is struggling to shake off the recession.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the President and CEO of Frontier Airlines, one of America's top air carriers, poses as an out-of-work welder looking for a new line of work.
My name's Richard Jacobs.
I'm here to train with Sue this morning.
Announcer: The boss will trade in his private bathroom for a clogged airplane lavatory.
You do not want to get dumped by this one.
That's nasty.
[laughs.]
Come on, Richard.
I'm coming.
Announcer: While working on the front line, he'll get an insider's look at his own company.
The big airlines do pay more.
I'm barely making ends meet.
Announcer: And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his business run.
If you woulda seen all these guys, how they work, you'd be so proud of them.
And you can tell I get emotional.
Announcer: How will his coworkers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? I do feel like I'm gonna be a better CEO for the experience that I had this past week.
Announcer: Find out next on Undercover Boss.
Announcer: With its main hub in Denver, Colorado, Frontier Airlines offers more than 650 flights a day across the U.
S.
and Central America.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are doing a courtesy pre-board at this time.
Announcer: At the head of this $1.
6 billion business is one man.
I'm Bryan Bedford, and I'm the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
Hey, how we doing? Good, good.
Probably by the time I was early 30s, I had worked in some executive capacity for seven different airlines.
We need to make sure that we deliver the brand and have fun doing it.
Mm-hmm.
And in 1999, I took a job as CEO of Republic.
Republic acquired Midwest Airlines, and then shortly thereafter Republic acquired Frontier Airlines after it filed for bankruptcy.
After extensive research, the three airlines will now be known as Frontier.
There is a possibility of layoffs with this sale.
But Frontier management says the jobs of most employees will be preserved.
Mergers are hard.
You know, merging two businesses is stressful on employees.
We did three.
Rows one through four, you may now board.
We're hearing a lot of, "why do we have different pay scales?" And, "why do we have different seniority lists?" And, "why do we have different policies and procedures?" Well, it is overwhelming, and Frontier Airlines asked all of its employees to take a 10% pay cut, and it's tough.
But the fact is we've got that had we not done what we did would not be working today.
This is the perfect time to go undercover and really hear firsthand what our employees are thinking, what they're feeling.
Ahh! Oh! My family is extremely important to me.
You want to get thrown up? Yeah! We've got eight beautiful children.
We sort of thought a family between four and six was right for us.
And so, like most Americans, we practice, you know, contraception and didn't have anymore kids.
And then we had this sort of spiritual awakening.
Okay, go sit down, guys.
And we decided if we were going to really trust in God's Providence, we needed to trust all the way, and that includes our marital life and the size of our family.
So who knows what God's plan is for us? In the name of the father, and the son, and the Holy spirit, amen.
The most important thing for Bryan is his faith.
He puts God first in his life, and everything else falls into place from there.
For all the souls who have passed, send their souls to heaven, we pray.
Our family, growing up, had crisis.
I had a five-year-old sister who was killed in a traffic accident.
It was very impactful.
I was six years old when that happened.
I remember the day that Theresa died.
I remember the sounds, the smells.
I will never forget it.
That was probably the first time in my life I really started to pray.
Amen.
Okay.
[laughs.]
We're going undercover.
[laughs.]
What do we think? You have hair.
Well, do you think they'll recognize me? Hi, Bella.
Is this your daddy? [Laughs.]
Okay, guys.
Bye-bye.
I'm really excited for him.
If this can help the company in any way, I think that's really great.
I want to go undercover because we're going through this merger, and my goal is to succeed as an airline against the big guys.
While I'm undercover, I'll be posing as Richard Jacobs, an unemployed welder who's looking to get a new start.
My coworkers will be told that I'm participating in a reality show where I'll be one of two candidates competing for a job opening at Frontier Airlines.
[Talk radio playing.]
Father, son, Holy spirit, amen.
All right.
Offering my labor up to you, father.
Well, I hope I got this thing on right.
In my job, I travel a lot.
And nothing bugs me more than when I get on a dirty airplane.
If they don't care enough to clean the plane, it makes me wonder what else isn't going on.
You know, is the plane safe? So I'm very excited about being able to go undercover with our aircraft appearance team today at our largest hub here in Denver, Colorado.
How may I help you? My name's Richard Jacobs.
I'm here to train with Sue this morning.
Oh, hi, Richard.
I'm Sue.
Are you Sue? Yes, I am.
Well, it's nice to meet you.
You too.
Come around here, please.
Thank you.
Okay, here's your uniform.
Okay.
You need to put this on, and we're gonna get busy real fast.
With 165 arriving flights each day, I'm very curious to see if we have enough time and enough people and tools and resources in order to clean these aircraft in a way that would make me feel good as a customer to fly on our airline.
You ready to start the day? I'm ready to get going.
Come on.
I can move quick.
Come on, Richard.
Now see, Richard, we have to be here when the aircraft get here.
We only have seven minutes to get this plane out.
So what happens if they come in late? They give us five.
[laughs.]
Roll out.
We have no time for mistakes.
We gotta get the lavs done, the seats done.
All the trash out of the pocket and off the floor, and vac.
Let me show you real fast.
Take the paper towels, see here.
Here you go, here you go.
Clean it real fast.
Wipe the sink down.
Somebody look like they spit in this one.
Okay, now I'm gonna show you how to do seats real fast.
Five minutes? Oh, we got five minutes left.
Okay, come on, put that right there.
Come on.
All you do is cross the seat belts.
Safety card in the front.
You do that side, I'll do this side.
Hurry, guys, we got another plane at the gate! I just found that somebody was actually living in this chair here.
[Laughter.]
Yeah.
Come on, Richard, back here! Hurry, Richard! You gotta hurry real fast, real fast, come on.
I gotta get under the seat here.
That's good.
Okay, there you go.
Put it in there.
Now get the trash, get the trash.
Richard takes too long to clean the toilet.
Hurry, hurry.
He's kinda slow, but he's trying.
There you go.
Hurry! Roll out.
Oh, look at me.
Is my wig coming off? [laughs.]
Same thing.
Come on, Richard! I'm coming.
We got less than seven minutes on this one.
I'm going.
Richard, that's all you've done? What's wrong with you? It's been a long time since I've had anybody yell at me the way Sue's yelled at me.
You missed a seat.
Oh, I thought we were doing one row aside.
No, you got to do the whole thing! I gotta do the whole thing? Yeah! What's wrong with you? Maybe I'm just too detail-oriented.
Well, that could be it, Richard.
Okay, get it in, Richard, get it in.
Hurry, Richard! This one look a hot mess.
Oh, yeah.
Hurry.
Come on, Richard.
I was surprised that you only have seven minutes to clean each plane, 'cause frankly I'm not sure that's enough time to really clean thoroughly.
Roll out! [Sighs.]
[Radio chirps.]
Oh, I got a vomit cleanup.
Where the vomit cleanup at? I'll do it.
Come on, Richard.
In the back, someone got a little sick.
I think he's from another flight.
What seat? Just in the aisle? Yeah.
Where? It should-- you can smell it.
I'll just give this a wipe.
You don't have to do that, baby.
Let me show you something.
Richard, let me have this.
Sure.
No, not that rag.
This here.
Can everybody please close their eyes and their mouth, please? I think if you're in aircraft appearance, a person being sick on a plane, that's your worst nightmare.
Okay.
Thank you.
We had a lunch, didn't we? [Laughs.]
I haven't had any lunch yet.
You haven't had a lunch? Nope, I haven't-- ah, I have to get Richard his union lunch! Just gonna pray here.
You say God is good, God is love.
Bless the cook, lord.
Bless aircraft appearance, and hope we keep our jobs, amen.
And our families.
Mm-hmm.
So do you have a family? Mm-hmm.
I had two kids, my daughter and my son.
How old are they? My daughter is 29.
And I lost my son.
He was murdered at 21.
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I moved to Colorado 'cause I thought it was a safe haven.
Yeah, I was born in Chicago.
I coulda stayed in Chicago.
I coulda protected him better than I did here.
Oh, you can't blame yourself for that.
I'm the mother cub.
I'm supposed to take care of my child.
Am I correct or not? Am I the one that shoulda-- you get a child up to 21 years old, you've done your job.
No.
You know? Look, I've learned a long time ago, bad things happen to good people.
You know, but you just gotta believe in God, trust in his plan, and things always seem to work out.
Oh, yeah.
Sue hasn't had the easiest life.
Yet she comes to work with a great attitude and has an infectious attitude that she shares with others.
You got how many grandbabies? One.
Just one? Let me see it.
Just got one.
That's her.
She looks like me.
She's pretty.
[Laughs.]
But, Richard, our lunch is over with.
We got to get back to work.
Are you ready to get-- I'm ready to get back to work.
What really impressed me about Sue was she was a great leader.
She really kept her team motivated.
She was always laughing, always very enthusiastic.
But I was taken back by just how little time they have to actually do the work.
I think we can do better.
You know, and I'm gonna have to go back and figure out how we do better.
Is it a function of time, tools, or more people? Whoo! Roll out! Announcer: Coming up, the boss has trouble getting off the ground.
Departure time was actually eight minutes ago.
Announcer: And later This is where everything comes out of, the human waste.
Announcer: The boss really gets his hands dirty.
Wow.
Ah! That's nasty.
[laughs.]
Announcer: Bryan Bedford, President and CEO of Frontier Airlines, is a boss undercover.
His employees think he's part of a television show where two people are competing for one open position within a company.
His journey continues in Oklahoma City.
I'm here today at the Will Rogers World Airport, which is one of the smaller airports in the Frontier network.
In a city that only has four or five flights a day, it's very important that all of our employees understand how to do each of the different jobs, and we call those employees cross-utilization agents.
I'm here to meet with Valerie.
I'm Valerie.
Hi, Richard, how are you? Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
If you'd just step back there and change your clothes, and we'll be on our way.
I'll be right back.
Thanks.
Okay.
I've actually never been to Oklahoma City before.
So I'm very excited to train as a cross-utilization Agent to see if it's really the most efficient way to run our business.
We don't have too much time up here, but we have to head down to the ramp.
So our flight is 50 minutes out, so let's go.
So we cross-utilize.
We work the ticket counter/ramp today.
And what we'll do is we'll go downstairs and get ready for that flight coming in.
We want to marshal the plane in.
And so you'll just stand by me, and we'll marshal it.
And then we'll go on from there and help unload the plane and get the bags on the next cart, and we've got 25 minutes.
Wow, that's a lot of work to do in 25 minutes.
You'll do fine.
This whole cross-train job literally covers just about everything that goes on at the station.
Is it hot enough for you? [both laugh.]
Okay, am I ready to do it? I don't know.
How do you feel? So when they're coming in, is there anything other than this part here? Yeah.
Oh, there is? [Laughs.]
I really wanted to marshal the plane in by myself today, but I think Valerie realized that I wasn't ready.
I'll be like, "no, stop.
" So she let me stand behind her.
You always got to be sure that they can see you.
When we do this part here, stay away from the engine.
You got it.
Any particular way you put these in? We do it with the handle facing out.
Okay.
Lots of bags.
It's very physical.
The bags weigh a lot, and there are a lot of them.
Now we get the bags on the next plane.
And then we just count these bags going up.
Three.
If we count the bags wrong, it could be a major disaster.
It all--doing in the weight and balance of the plane.
Are you still counting the bags? Oh, no.
Valerie asked me how many bags I put on, and of course I was like, "huh?" How many did you send up? One, two, three, four.
Four? Yeah.
That's five.
There's no way we could make a mistake.
If anything should happen, that person that's counting the bags will be charged with how many lives were on that plane.
This is 17.
So how many bags-- I'm counting now.
That's 18.
Getting kinda warm out here now, huh? It's hot.
Gotta be in pretty good shape for this.
You could tell that he's kinda feeling that heat.
If I can handle it, he can handle it.
We can go ahead and disconnect the air hose.
If you say so.
You're the boss.
Extremely hot out here.
But it was also just physically demanding.
And we're gonna close this latch.
It's easy to take hard work for granted, that people will just do it.
It's another thing to get out of the office and experience it side-by-side.
Well, rolling something up seems like it's not terribly difficult, but if there's a way to mess it up, I'm sure I'll do it.
That's it.
So we'll go upstairs now and see if there's any gate checks.
Okay.
I don't feel exactly like I smell like a Rose right now.
No.
[both chuckle.]
You know, after working on the ramp, you work up a pretty good sweat.
And then you come back inside, and you don't really feel like you're at the top of your game when you're gonna go out and stand in front of customers.
Now we're just gonna check them in.
Did you have any bags to check in, sir? I'm self-conscious about sweating a lot and perhaps not smelling particularly good.
Spent two weeks here in your hottest weather, I think.
That's not the professional image that we want to put forth to our customers.
So there's clearly a downside to this cross-training concept.
So that's something I need to look into.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Have a good flight.
All right, well, that's our unaccompanied minor fee.
So let's go in the back and take a break.
Okay, all right.
Okay.
So are you originally from Oklahoma City? I moved from Hawaii here, and being a single mother, it was kind of hard to start off.
You know, there was a time when I first moved here that my kids were having egg sandwiches almost every day.
And, you know, you sit there and you just cry, and you're like, "okay, how am I gonna do this," you know? Wow.
Yeah.
But then when, for me, I get into the word and I read the word, and I know that my strength comes from the lord.
So your faith really helps you through these tough times? He has.
He--he's been there with me all the time.
Amen.
I mean, I always said, you know, when you're down, like in the bottom of the barrel, and then the lord just kinda make a way for you, that I would do the same.
And that's the reason why I went to a full-time ministry, to take care of the needy, to help the homeless, and-- that's really neat.
It's, like, every other Saturday, when I'm off or when I can.
And, um, taking clothes, taking food, and even if it's a t-shirt or socks.
It sounds kinda crazy, 'cause my happiest times has been out on the streets and handing out food.
That doesn't sound crazy at all.
I really enjoyed working with Valerie today.
And not just because she was a great employee, but she's a woman of tremendous faith.
If it wasn't for him, I could not have done what I've done.
A woman who has endured significant hardships and challenges in her life, and yet her whole focus continues to be on giving to others.
I mean, she was just truly an inspirational human being.
That's an amazing witness.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
You're welcome.
[Sighs.]
Great day.
And the son and Holy spirit, amen.
I met a really cool lady today, Valerie, who shared just an awesome faith witness with me.
Here is a woman who's gone through lots of personal sacrifice and struggle.
And yet she is just so joyful in her desire to give to others.
And that comes from a strong faith.
Maybe a little reading before bed.
To really understand how faith became so impactful to me, you really have to go back to my sister's passing.
I think when we get challenged with crisis in our life, there are two ways we can go.
We can turn away from God, blame God, or we can turn to God, "strengthen me, help me, get me through this.
" Well, where will you lead me tonight, lord? At Frontier Airlines, we pride ourselves on being a whole different animal.
And what that means is providing a better and different flying experience for our customers.
Simply put, we want to be the airline for people who hate airlines.
Today I'm going undercover as a Frontier Airlines flight attendant.
How you doing? I'm good.
Richard.
Richard? Nice to meet you.
My name's Tui.
Before we get started, we're gonna have you put in a uniform.
I'm very excited to go undercover today and experience firsthand whether we're delivering that better and different flying experience for our customers.
We're gonna head to the gate.
Hustle, right.
Yeah, we don't want to be late, do we? Yeah, they're waiting for us so So where are we going today? Well, we're gonna go to San Diego.
San Diego? "Californ-I-a," yes.
Hey, guys, how you doing? Thank you.
Thank you.
The flight attendant position is critical, not just for the safety and security of our customers, but also in order to keep the airline running on time.
If one plane departs late, this could cause other flights to be delayed over the course of the day.
You're gonna be helping the customers with their bags.
You're gonna greet them.
So get the passengers on first.
Get out on time.
That's what we're looking for.
Okay.
Okay? Hi.
Hello.
Need any help? So, Richard, Richard, just go ahead and stay in the middle, and then just help them.
Hello.
What you looking for? Oh, you are so close.
Let me get that for you.
You look like you got your hands full.
Did you have a good flight out to Denver? Well, great.
How are you? How we doing? Broncos, all right.
Are we gonna have a good team this year? Richard is slowing me down.
He's too focused talking to passengers.
San Diego's not bad.
We have to speed up the process so we could get outta there.
Richard, talking is okay.
Just hustle it.
Departure time was actually eight minutes ago.
Oh, my goodness.
We gotta hustle.
Yeah.
Please, take your seats.
Sorry we're running a little late.
All right, guys, we really gotta hustle.
We gotta get a flight going.
Ma'am, what row are you in? Take our seats, guys.
I felt frustrated that I wasn't keeping up the pace.
We gotta get this plane out.
Please take your seats.
Sorry we're running a little late.
All right, guys, we really gotta hustle.
We gotta get a flight going.
Apologize for the minor delay here.
Looks like we're getting ready to light the candle here.
All right.
Okay, let's do the safety demo.
Okay.
Just listen to whatever she says.
Good luck.
In order to perform the safety briefing, our flight attendants receive special training.
However, I did get a chance to practice alongside Tui.
Thank you for choosing Frontier.
Our aircraft is equipped with six emergency exits.
There are two door exits in the front and two door exits in the rear of the cabin.
The safety presentation, you really don't have that much to remember.
Should there be a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will automatically drop from the compartment above your seat.
So you'd think an idiot like me could get that right, but I felt like it was a little discombobulated.
Please adjust your mask before assisting a child.
Whoops, missed that part.
Okay, so we're gonna work the cart.
You're gonna be in charge of the liquor.
Oh, thanks, man.
So go easy.
Check if your hair's okay.
Got no boogers and everything's okay.
What am I supposed to look at? Well, just make sure your hair-- oh, here's a mirror.
All right, well, I need a haircut.
[Laughs.]
Excuse me, sir.
Cart coming through.
Elbows, knees, elbows, knees.
Hey, I got a question.
Do you normally give them the napkin first? Give them the napkin first, and then the drink, and then the smile.
[Chuckles.]
Sir, can I offer you something to drink? A bottle of scotch? Yes.
[laughs.]
And I apologize.
Cranberry juice with ice.
Okay.
A little bit.
Ahh.
Richard, he's a very people person.
So, you know, he's always talking, all the time.
Do you do fist bump? Yeah.
It's a good thing, but it is also a bad thing.
I don't know.
Colts still look good to me.
We're on a time here.
We're trying to get this going before we land.
And one more.
Thank you very much.
We'll be landing shortly.
Ladies and gentlemen, now we're gonna turn off our lights with our magic powers.
[Laughter.]
Tui has a lot of fun with the customers.
He does tricks and things.
So Tui's doing a great job.
[Laughter.]
Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate your assistance in preparing the cabin for landing.
Please be sure that your seat belts are securely fastened.
We'll be landing shortly.
Thank you very much.
One of the things I wanted to learn today was whether or not our flight attendants understood the Frontier brand promise.
It was a good day.
Yes, it was.
Enjoyed the flight.
Oh, yeah.
So I was reading the side of the plane, and I see this "whole different animal.
" And I know there's animals on the tails, but what does that "whole different animal" mean? We do it way different from other flight attendants.
And we have great crews.
You know, we get a lot of compliments from passengers that flown our competitors, and they say, "oh, I haven't heard Frontier before.
Hey, man, you guys are so nice.
" You know, even if they're just coming and they're having a bad anniversary, I say, "no, we're gonna make it right.
"Come on, you spent all that money.
"I want to accommodate you.
What can I do to help you enjoy your flight?" In taking to Tui, he really go it.
I mean, he really understand that better and different is how we're gonna succeed as an airline against the big guys.
So how do you get--how do you do your schedules? How does that work? I work almost six days a week.
Here? Yes, here at Frontier.
I'm still barely making ends meet.
I dj on the side, and also I do luau on the sides.
No kidding.
My son, which is in college, so I have seven at home, but one in college.
But I still, you know, I put some money in his bank account, just whatever he needs.
I said, "if you don't go to college, "you're gonna be hustling like daddy.
You're gonna have three jobs.
" Mommy's doing two jobs, and, you know-- that's a big sacrifice.
It's a sacrifice, but you know what? It's our responsibility, and they come first.
As a father of eight children, I could certainly relate to Tui.
He represents that character of self-sacrifice and really wanting to make sure that he's working hard to lift his kids up to a better life.
I don't know what you get paid, but I imagine that the bigger airlines must pay a lot more, the big airlines do pay more.
And do you feel like you're being treated fairly? You know, uh, if I'm speaking honestly, um-- you should.
Okay, well, I think we're not asking a whole lot.
We're not asking for a raise.
We just ask for what we've been cut off.
What's that mean? They took 10% away.
We just want the 10% back.
Who took it away? The company.
Just a lot of cutbacks.
And we understand.
Speaking everybody here at Frontier Airlines, we just want fairness.
Tui shared a lot with me about his perceptions of the merger.
I mean, he was pretty vocal about wanting to get their pay cuts that they took in bankruptcy restored.
So that was a little bit of a hard feedback.
On a typical summer day, come through Frontier Airlines' Denver hub.
Now those flights have to be serviced.
And service doesn't just mean removing bottle and pop cans.
Service also means cleaning out the aircraft lavatories.
Excuse me, are you Hector? Yeah, how you doing? Nice to meet you.
I'm Richard.
Nice to meet you too.
Training with me today? Yes, I'm trying to get a job.
First thing I want you to do is change your uniform.
Okay.
Our lav truck drivers remove about over the course of a typical day.
So I'm really looking forward to going undercover to see how efficiently we're doing the job in order to keep the airline moving on time.
Hey, you look good.
Man, you look pretty good.
Thanks.
Our job is lavatory service.
We go out there, we drain the lav, and flush the whole system down, and put fresh blue juice in so it smells April fresh up there.
Imagine the flight attendants like that too.
Oh, yeah.
They call you back quite a few times if you don't do it right.
So we're gonna get it done right the first time, not the second time.
Okay.
Let's get ready to rock and roll.
So how many flights a day does Frontier have outta here? About a hundred-and-some planes.
And you're talking lots of poo-poo.
[Laughs.]
Lots of poo-poo.
And you've got your blue juice hose.
Blue juice hose goes open, close.
Very important you hear that click when you put it up there, 'cause if you don't put it on right, it'll popped off and you're gonna get sprayed with blue juice.
Has that ever happened to you? Yes.
[laughing.]
Oh, no.
Same thing with the dump valve.
Dump valve is open, closed.
You do not want to get dumped by this one.
Safety's number one.
I don't know if he has his tetanus shot.
I do, so I'm safe.
This is where everything comes out of, the human waste.
Open this end, and you can see what I'm talking about.
Yeah, I can smell what you're talking about.
Right.
Now touch the lever.
Oh, right.
Now when you're taking off, the first thing you do taking off is the blue handle goes back up.
If you don't, you're gonna keep on dripping down.
It's a $10,000 fine if the f.
A.
A.
Or the city catches you.
You're never quite sure what's gonna happen when you open up the panel and start pulling some of those valves.
When you're like this, you want to be very careful you don't get dumped on.
Nope.
Nope.
What? Make sure it's open.
I was very nervous about my first lav dump.
Flip that lever.
Blue handle.
If you do the job in the wrong order Go ahead.
Or if you rush, the consequences are pretty severe.
There you go.
Watch that orange hose.
It can pop off on you.
Keep an eye on it.
New guys always tense up.
They don't think of what they're doing.
Blue handle.
No! That's why I stay back four to five feet.
Ah.
What'd I tell you about the wind? That's nasty.
[Laughs.]
It's an entertaining job at some points.
If you're an entry-level person, I mean, how does the pay and benefits work? I mean, me, I make more money by working extra hours.
Is that a big burden on your family, to have to pick up extra time? Yeah, they don't like when I work late.
They don't, they don't.
Do a lot of folks pick up a lot of extra time? Yeah, a lot of people pick up shifts here like crazy.
We took pay cuts and everything to save the company.
If you woulda seen these people, man, you woulda seen all these guys, how they work.
You'd be so proud.
And you can tell, I get emotional.
Oh, yeah.
It's-- you know, it gets-- it's a family.
We got a bunch of hard-working guys out here.
They bent over backwards, you know, for this airline.
They did everything they could, and the did it, they saved it.
You hope they looked down, and they showed their appreciation by giving them something back, which I wish they would.
Just show a little appreciation.
Show you, hey, look what you've done for us.
"Thank you" is a great word.
But you got families to feed, and the economy, gas, everything going.
You need a little bit more, you know? Yeah.
It is thought-provoking to think how many people are on the edge out there, and that's a real problem in this country today.
You can read it in the paper.
You can read about 14 million unemployed Americans.
But it's different when you're sitting across the table from somebody who's living with that, and yet, you know, what they want in return from their company isn't all that much.
Tomorrow I get to return to my job as the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
And when I think about the 11,000 people that are counting on us to make this business work, it makes you want to work just as hard as they are to make sure that their sacrifices and their enthusiasm is rewarded.
Announcer: Coming up, Bryan summons his employees to company headquarters.
I'm not confused at all about what I want to say about the evaluation for Richard.
Announcer: How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm actually Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
After a week undercover, my journey has finally come to an end.
I think what surprised me most is the love that the employees have for this company.
It's unbelievable, and quite frankly it was unexpected.
But it really made an impact on me.
I really want to share my undercover experience with my senior management team so that we can all benefit from what I've learned.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome back.
Good to be back.
Believe me, I'll tell you, I don't know where to begin.
From many different perspectives, our airline's doing okay, but we've got a lot of work to do.
So I got an opportunity to be an aircraft appearance person.
Worked with this gal by the name of Sue.
Daniel, you schedule the airplanes.
So you know they're here for 45 minutes.
So there's really a very short window of time.
And while I think they're doing the best job they can, I gotta tell you, I don't feel like we're delivering the product the way we should.
So that's something I'd like to see us work on.
Cross-utilization Agent.
Anybody heard that term before? Above and below.
Above and below wing.
Yeah, but I could sort of understand if it was above the wing one day and below the wing the next day.
No, it's all in one flight.
At 115 degrees on the ramp in Oklahoma City, you know, after throwing bags on the airplane, to then want to go upstairs and sit in front of your customer, can she do it? Sure.
But did she feel she was really presenting the Frontier brand? Uh, no.
Is that something that you can come back with some suggestions on? Absolutely.
We've got a lot of good employees out there, and it's just amazing how many people we have that are the primary wage-earner.
You know, so that 10% pay cut just keeps, you know, resonating all the way through how impactful that must have been for our employees.
They are struggling.
You know, and I think we as senior management team, we should want to get out there and help our co-workers who are in greater need.
I mean, that was probably the most impactful experience that I had over this past week.
So I'd really like to see us go out there and walk the talk now.
Can I count on you? You can count on us.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
All of the employees I've worked with this week have been called to headquarters to supposedly vote for one of the two guys competing for the same job.
They have no idea why they're really here.
I'm not confused at all about what I want to say about the evaluation for Richard.
It's weird, 'cause you pick the wrong one, then you have a guy out there with no money to feed his family.
If it came to a choice, hire both of them.
[Dramatic music.]
hey, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Do you know who I am? Does this help? What's your real name? I'm actually Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
Oh, lord.
You tricked me.
Hold me down, y'all.
[Laughs.]
Are you serious? Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Valerie, it was just great meeting you and to see what you do every day.
But the thing that really, really impacted me, just the hardships that you've endured.
I mean, it's just-- it's an amazing story for a single woman to have to be so strong.
And yet you still find the need to give back to others.
Valerie, what I'd like to do is give $10,000 to you to donate to the charity of your choice.
Really? Really, yeah, for your charity.
Oh, wow.
So--'cause I think you can do some really awesome work with that.
You want to go on the streets with me? I will be on the streets with you.
We will serve together.
That's awesome.
I used to dream, "oh, lord, I want to do this, and I want to do that, but the funds aren't there.
" With this $10,000, we can just, you know, bless other people.
I do believe in miracles, always--always will.
I always will believe in miracles.
Hector, you got a tough job, man.
You know, so-- it's not that bad.
Maybe it sounds worse than it is.
No, it sounds exactly what it is.
[Both laugh.]
But, you know, you're a great trainer.
Like I always say, if you go in there with a great attitude, no matter what you do, you'll make a wonderful day happen.
I thought it was a great philosophy.
Well, I'd like to figure out a way to leverage your enthusiasm and your passion for our airline and your courage to stand up for your co-workers, and create a forum where perhaps maybe you can go in and talk to our new-hire classes.
You know, where you can, you know, tell them, you know, what you do and how you do it.
Anything for fellow workers and employees, yeah, I don't mind.
'Cause I'd do anything for these guys.
I believe you.
I believe that you do.
And I saw it firsthand.
You know, you pick up a lot of guys' shifts.
You know, it seems like you work an awful lot.
I'm just curious, when was the last time you and your wife had some vacation time and-- once in a while, not much.
Well, I'd like to pay to send you guys on a week-long vacation.
Whoo! And I'll pick up the tab for that, so you pick someplace nice, someplace you and your wife can get away, and I'll make sure Frontier gives you the week off.
Thank you.
That's beautiful.
I really appreciate that.
The last time I went on vacation was about seven years, maybe eight years ago.
It's very generous, and coming from the heart, it's great.
It's a great feeling.
Sue, I really felt a connection with you.
I mean, you welcomed me into the airline.
You were very giving for me and forgiving.
"Richard! Hurry up, Richard!" I never hear, "richard, hurry up, Richard.
" You did-- I enjoyed it though.
You know, you shared some things that really touched me, when you shared with me that you lost your son.
And I gotta tell you, that--that really hit me.
My parents lost a child.
I can only imagine the pain that you had to go through.
And, you know, I've been thinking, you know, what can we do and how can we help you? And I don't--there's nothing that we can do to make up for the loss but-- no, no one can.
But what I'd like to do, I'd like to dedicate one of our aircraft to Andre.
Oh, that'd be so sweet.
I'd like to do that.
And I'd like you to pick your animal for that plane so that you can have a part of him with you every day.
Oh, that's so-- the other thing you shared with me was a picture of your Yeah.
And the relationship that you want to have with her.
So what I'd like to do for you is send you on a cruise with your granddaughter.
Oh, my goodness.
You have made my day.
You have made my-- I didn't think nobody would ever do nothing like this for me.
That's nice.
To see a tail on a plane that he told me to pick, every time I see that plane, I'm gonna say, "there go Andre.
There go Andre.
" Because he will never get to see what we see today.
This is a beautiful day.
It's a beautiful day.
Tui, out of all the people I talked to, you're the one who just nailed the brand promise.
You're the one guy who could really articulate to me what it meant to be better and different.
And that's why I would like to create a new branding committee, and I'd like to make you the chairman of that committee.
And I think if we can harness that energy, if somehow we can take that inspiration, you know, that you create, we'll be an unstoppable force.
Yes, for sure.
Another thing that I would like to do for you personally, as a father of eight I know the struggle, and we talked about your son is in college and books and tuition are expensive.
I'd like to contribute $20,000 to help you get your kids into college, man.
'Cause I think that's important.
Is that okay? Thank you.
'Cause you're just awesome, and I really enjoyed working with you, and I want to keep working with you.
I want to be part of your life, and I want us to go to greater heights here, man.
Thank you, Bryan.
Appreciate that.
Just so shocked.
My son's in college, and it's so hard.
I'm just so grateful to receive that blessing from him.
I just want the best for my children.
[Sniffling.]
[Indistinct chatter.]
Ladies and gentlemen, the CEO of Frontier Airlines, Bryan Bedford.
[Cheers and applause.]
Yeah! Whoo! [Cheers and applause.]
Thank you very much.
I know each of you are expecting to get an update of our second quarter financial performance.
But I've actually asked you to come here today for an entirely different reason.
For the past week, I've been working undercover at Frontier Airlines.
[Murmuring and applause.]
I really want show just a couple of clips of some of the jobs I was privileged to do and some of the folks that I was privileged to work with.
So let's take a look.
Okay, let's do the safety demo.
Our aircraft is equipped with six emergency exits.
[Laughter.]
Yeah, I felt like it was a little discombobulated with where I was supposed to be pointing.
Come on, Richard.
There you go.
Hurry, hurry.
He's kinda slow, but he's trying.
[Laughter.]
Wow, that's nasty.
[Laughter.]
[Cheers and applause.]
When I started this undercover journey a week ago, I took it as sort of a business assignment.
You know, I had a mission.
But I have to tell you, I got so much more out of this experience than what I expected going into it.
I know that our employees had to endure a 10% pay cut.
And I could see firsthand how the pay cuts were impacting people.
Which is why everybody on the senior management team was uniform that this is something that we need to do, and it's the right time to do it.
I want to recover those wage cuts over the next three years.
Yeah! Yeah! [Cheers and applause.]
Whoo! And I gotta tell you, it's not gonna stop here.
So I want to thank Sue, Hector, and Valerie, and Tui.
Thank you for educating me.
Thank you for the gift that you've given me, to understand what it means to be a Frontier Airlines employee.
And God bless you all.
[Cheers and applause.]
Go, Bryan! This week, I had the most amazing journey.
This certainly puts a face to all the decisions that I'll be forced to make now.
That touched me very deep.
It's a great feeling to have someone that cares.
To get the 10% back, it means a big deal financially.
It means he cares about us.
He cares for this company.
He cares for our future, and he also definitely cares for our family.
You can't not be changed by this experience.
I mean, it'll be a part of the fabric of who I am as a person and certainly as an executive.
So no doubt in my mind, I'll be a better representative for our employees in all of our boardroom decisions.
[Cheerful music.]
announcer: Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the President and CEO of Frontier Airlines, one of America's top air carriers, poses as an out-of-work welder looking for a new line of work.
My name's Richard Jacobs.
I'm here to train with Sue this morning.
Announcer: The boss will trade in his private bathroom for a clogged airplane lavatory.
You do not want to get dumped by this one.
That's nasty.
[laughs.]
Come on, Richard.
I'm coming.
Announcer: While working on the front line, he'll get an insider's look at his own company.
The big airlines do pay more.
I'm barely making ends meet.
Announcer: And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his business run.
If you woulda seen all these guys, how they work, you'd be so proud of them.
And you can tell I get emotional.
Announcer: How will his coworkers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? I do feel like I'm gonna be a better CEO for the experience that I had this past week.
Announcer: Find out next on Undercover Boss.
Announcer: With its main hub in Denver, Colorado, Frontier Airlines offers more than 650 flights a day across the U.
S.
and Central America.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are doing a courtesy pre-board at this time.
Announcer: At the head of this $1.
6 billion business is one man.
I'm Bryan Bedford, and I'm the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
Hey, how we doing? Good, good.
Probably by the time I was early 30s, I had worked in some executive capacity for seven different airlines.
We need to make sure that we deliver the brand and have fun doing it.
Mm-hmm.
And in 1999, I took a job as CEO of Republic.
Republic acquired Midwest Airlines, and then shortly thereafter Republic acquired Frontier Airlines after it filed for bankruptcy.
After extensive research, the three airlines will now be known as Frontier.
There is a possibility of layoffs with this sale.
But Frontier management says the jobs of most employees will be preserved.
Mergers are hard.
You know, merging two businesses is stressful on employees.
We did three.
Rows one through four, you may now board.
We're hearing a lot of, "why do we have different pay scales?" And, "why do we have different seniority lists?" And, "why do we have different policies and procedures?" Well, it is overwhelming, and Frontier Airlines asked all of its employees to take a 10% pay cut, and it's tough.
But the fact is we've got that had we not done what we did would not be working today.
This is the perfect time to go undercover and really hear firsthand what our employees are thinking, what they're feeling.
Ahh! Oh! My family is extremely important to me.
You want to get thrown up? Yeah! We've got eight beautiful children.
We sort of thought a family between four and six was right for us.
And so, like most Americans, we practice, you know, contraception and didn't have anymore kids.
And then we had this sort of spiritual awakening.
Okay, go sit down, guys.
And we decided if we were going to really trust in God's Providence, we needed to trust all the way, and that includes our marital life and the size of our family.
So who knows what God's plan is for us? In the name of the father, and the son, and the Holy spirit, amen.
The most important thing for Bryan is his faith.
He puts God first in his life, and everything else falls into place from there.
For all the souls who have passed, send their souls to heaven, we pray.
Our family, growing up, had crisis.
I had a five-year-old sister who was killed in a traffic accident.
It was very impactful.
I was six years old when that happened.
I remember the day that Theresa died.
I remember the sounds, the smells.
I will never forget it.
That was probably the first time in my life I really started to pray.
Amen.
Okay.
[laughs.]
We're going undercover.
[laughs.]
What do we think? You have hair.
Well, do you think they'll recognize me? Hi, Bella.
Is this your daddy? [Laughs.]
Okay, guys.
Bye-bye.
I'm really excited for him.
If this can help the company in any way, I think that's really great.
I want to go undercover because we're going through this merger, and my goal is to succeed as an airline against the big guys.
While I'm undercover, I'll be posing as Richard Jacobs, an unemployed welder who's looking to get a new start.
My coworkers will be told that I'm participating in a reality show where I'll be one of two candidates competing for a job opening at Frontier Airlines.
[Talk radio playing.]
Father, son, Holy spirit, amen.
All right.
Offering my labor up to you, father.
Well, I hope I got this thing on right.
In my job, I travel a lot.
And nothing bugs me more than when I get on a dirty airplane.
If they don't care enough to clean the plane, it makes me wonder what else isn't going on.
You know, is the plane safe? So I'm very excited about being able to go undercover with our aircraft appearance team today at our largest hub here in Denver, Colorado.
How may I help you? My name's Richard Jacobs.
I'm here to train with Sue this morning.
Oh, hi, Richard.
I'm Sue.
Are you Sue? Yes, I am.
Well, it's nice to meet you.
You too.
Come around here, please.
Thank you.
Okay, here's your uniform.
Okay.
You need to put this on, and we're gonna get busy real fast.
With 165 arriving flights each day, I'm very curious to see if we have enough time and enough people and tools and resources in order to clean these aircraft in a way that would make me feel good as a customer to fly on our airline.
You ready to start the day? I'm ready to get going.
Come on.
I can move quick.
Come on, Richard.
Now see, Richard, we have to be here when the aircraft get here.
We only have seven minutes to get this plane out.
So what happens if they come in late? They give us five.
[laughs.]
Roll out.
We have no time for mistakes.
We gotta get the lavs done, the seats done.
All the trash out of the pocket and off the floor, and vac.
Let me show you real fast.
Take the paper towels, see here.
Here you go, here you go.
Clean it real fast.
Wipe the sink down.
Somebody look like they spit in this one.
Okay, now I'm gonna show you how to do seats real fast.
Five minutes? Oh, we got five minutes left.
Okay, come on, put that right there.
Come on.
All you do is cross the seat belts.
Safety card in the front.
You do that side, I'll do this side.
Hurry, guys, we got another plane at the gate! I just found that somebody was actually living in this chair here.
[Laughter.]
Yeah.
Come on, Richard, back here! Hurry, Richard! You gotta hurry real fast, real fast, come on.
I gotta get under the seat here.
That's good.
Okay, there you go.
Put it in there.
Now get the trash, get the trash.
Richard takes too long to clean the toilet.
Hurry, hurry.
He's kinda slow, but he's trying.
There you go.
Hurry! Roll out.
Oh, look at me.
Is my wig coming off? [laughs.]
Same thing.
Come on, Richard! I'm coming.
We got less than seven minutes on this one.
I'm going.
Richard, that's all you've done? What's wrong with you? It's been a long time since I've had anybody yell at me the way Sue's yelled at me.
You missed a seat.
Oh, I thought we were doing one row aside.
No, you got to do the whole thing! I gotta do the whole thing? Yeah! What's wrong with you? Maybe I'm just too detail-oriented.
Well, that could be it, Richard.
Okay, get it in, Richard, get it in.
Hurry, Richard! This one look a hot mess.
Oh, yeah.
Hurry.
Come on, Richard.
I was surprised that you only have seven minutes to clean each plane, 'cause frankly I'm not sure that's enough time to really clean thoroughly.
Roll out! [Sighs.]
[Radio chirps.]
Oh, I got a vomit cleanup.
Where the vomit cleanup at? I'll do it.
Come on, Richard.
In the back, someone got a little sick.
I think he's from another flight.
What seat? Just in the aisle? Yeah.
Where? It should-- you can smell it.
I'll just give this a wipe.
You don't have to do that, baby.
Let me show you something.
Richard, let me have this.
Sure.
No, not that rag.
This here.
Can everybody please close their eyes and their mouth, please? I think if you're in aircraft appearance, a person being sick on a plane, that's your worst nightmare.
Okay.
Thank you.
We had a lunch, didn't we? [Laughs.]
I haven't had any lunch yet.
You haven't had a lunch? Nope, I haven't-- ah, I have to get Richard his union lunch! Just gonna pray here.
You say God is good, God is love.
Bless the cook, lord.
Bless aircraft appearance, and hope we keep our jobs, amen.
And our families.
Mm-hmm.
So do you have a family? Mm-hmm.
I had two kids, my daughter and my son.
How old are they? My daughter is 29.
And I lost my son.
He was murdered at 21.
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I moved to Colorado 'cause I thought it was a safe haven.
Yeah, I was born in Chicago.
I coulda stayed in Chicago.
I coulda protected him better than I did here.
Oh, you can't blame yourself for that.
I'm the mother cub.
I'm supposed to take care of my child.
Am I correct or not? Am I the one that shoulda-- you get a child up to 21 years old, you've done your job.
No.
You know? Look, I've learned a long time ago, bad things happen to good people.
You know, but you just gotta believe in God, trust in his plan, and things always seem to work out.
Oh, yeah.
Sue hasn't had the easiest life.
Yet she comes to work with a great attitude and has an infectious attitude that she shares with others.
You got how many grandbabies? One.
Just one? Let me see it.
Just got one.
That's her.
She looks like me.
She's pretty.
[Laughs.]
But, Richard, our lunch is over with.
We got to get back to work.
Are you ready to get-- I'm ready to get back to work.
What really impressed me about Sue was she was a great leader.
She really kept her team motivated.
She was always laughing, always very enthusiastic.
But I was taken back by just how little time they have to actually do the work.
I think we can do better.
You know, and I'm gonna have to go back and figure out how we do better.
Is it a function of time, tools, or more people? Whoo! Roll out! Announcer: Coming up, the boss has trouble getting off the ground.
Departure time was actually eight minutes ago.
Announcer: And later This is where everything comes out of, the human waste.
Announcer: The boss really gets his hands dirty.
Wow.
Ah! That's nasty.
[laughs.]
Announcer: Bryan Bedford, President and CEO of Frontier Airlines, is a boss undercover.
His employees think he's part of a television show where two people are competing for one open position within a company.
His journey continues in Oklahoma City.
I'm here today at the Will Rogers World Airport, which is one of the smaller airports in the Frontier network.
In a city that only has four or five flights a day, it's very important that all of our employees understand how to do each of the different jobs, and we call those employees cross-utilization agents.
I'm here to meet with Valerie.
I'm Valerie.
Hi, Richard, how are you? Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
If you'd just step back there and change your clothes, and we'll be on our way.
I'll be right back.
Thanks.
Okay.
I've actually never been to Oklahoma City before.
So I'm very excited to train as a cross-utilization Agent to see if it's really the most efficient way to run our business.
We don't have too much time up here, but we have to head down to the ramp.
So our flight is 50 minutes out, so let's go.
So we cross-utilize.
We work the ticket counter/ramp today.
And what we'll do is we'll go downstairs and get ready for that flight coming in.
We want to marshal the plane in.
And so you'll just stand by me, and we'll marshal it.
And then we'll go on from there and help unload the plane and get the bags on the next cart, and we've got 25 minutes.
Wow, that's a lot of work to do in 25 minutes.
You'll do fine.
This whole cross-train job literally covers just about everything that goes on at the station.
Is it hot enough for you? [both laugh.]
Okay, am I ready to do it? I don't know.
How do you feel? So when they're coming in, is there anything other than this part here? Yeah.
Oh, there is? [Laughs.]
I really wanted to marshal the plane in by myself today, but I think Valerie realized that I wasn't ready.
I'll be like, "no, stop.
" So she let me stand behind her.
You always got to be sure that they can see you.
When we do this part here, stay away from the engine.
You got it.
Any particular way you put these in? We do it with the handle facing out.
Okay.
Lots of bags.
It's very physical.
The bags weigh a lot, and there are a lot of them.
Now we get the bags on the next plane.
And then we just count these bags going up.
Three.
If we count the bags wrong, it could be a major disaster.
It all--doing in the weight and balance of the plane.
Are you still counting the bags? Oh, no.
Valerie asked me how many bags I put on, and of course I was like, "huh?" How many did you send up? One, two, three, four.
Four? Yeah.
That's five.
There's no way we could make a mistake.
If anything should happen, that person that's counting the bags will be charged with how many lives were on that plane.
This is 17.
So how many bags-- I'm counting now.
That's 18.
Getting kinda warm out here now, huh? It's hot.
Gotta be in pretty good shape for this.
You could tell that he's kinda feeling that heat.
If I can handle it, he can handle it.
We can go ahead and disconnect the air hose.
If you say so.
You're the boss.
Extremely hot out here.
But it was also just physically demanding.
And we're gonna close this latch.
It's easy to take hard work for granted, that people will just do it.
It's another thing to get out of the office and experience it side-by-side.
Well, rolling something up seems like it's not terribly difficult, but if there's a way to mess it up, I'm sure I'll do it.
That's it.
So we'll go upstairs now and see if there's any gate checks.
Okay.
I don't feel exactly like I smell like a Rose right now.
No.
[both chuckle.]
You know, after working on the ramp, you work up a pretty good sweat.
And then you come back inside, and you don't really feel like you're at the top of your game when you're gonna go out and stand in front of customers.
Now we're just gonna check them in.
Did you have any bags to check in, sir? I'm self-conscious about sweating a lot and perhaps not smelling particularly good.
Spent two weeks here in your hottest weather, I think.
That's not the professional image that we want to put forth to our customers.
So there's clearly a downside to this cross-training concept.
So that's something I need to look into.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Have a good flight.
All right, well, that's our unaccompanied minor fee.
So let's go in the back and take a break.
Okay, all right.
Okay.
So are you originally from Oklahoma City? I moved from Hawaii here, and being a single mother, it was kind of hard to start off.
You know, there was a time when I first moved here that my kids were having egg sandwiches almost every day.
And, you know, you sit there and you just cry, and you're like, "okay, how am I gonna do this," you know? Wow.
Yeah.
But then when, for me, I get into the word and I read the word, and I know that my strength comes from the lord.
So your faith really helps you through these tough times? He has.
He--he's been there with me all the time.
Amen.
I mean, I always said, you know, when you're down, like in the bottom of the barrel, and then the lord just kinda make a way for you, that I would do the same.
And that's the reason why I went to a full-time ministry, to take care of the needy, to help the homeless, and-- that's really neat.
It's, like, every other Saturday, when I'm off or when I can.
And, um, taking clothes, taking food, and even if it's a t-shirt or socks.
It sounds kinda crazy, 'cause my happiest times has been out on the streets and handing out food.
That doesn't sound crazy at all.
I really enjoyed working with Valerie today.
And not just because she was a great employee, but she's a woman of tremendous faith.
If it wasn't for him, I could not have done what I've done.
A woman who has endured significant hardships and challenges in her life, and yet her whole focus continues to be on giving to others.
I mean, she was just truly an inspirational human being.
That's an amazing witness.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
You're welcome.
[Sighs.]
Great day.
And the son and Holy spirit, amen.
I met a really cool lady today, Valerie, who shared just an awesome faith witness with me.
Here is a woman who's gone through lots of personal sacrifice and struggle.
And yet she is just so joyful in her desire to give to others.
And that comes from a strong faith.
Maybe a little reading before bed.
To really understand how faith became so impactful to me, you really have to go back to my sister's passing.
I think when we get challenged with crisis in our life, there are two ways we can go.
We can turn away from God, blame God, or we can turn to God, "strengthen me, help me, get me through this.
" Well, where will you lead me tonight, lord? At Frontier Airlines, we pride ourselves on being a whole different animal.
And what that means is providing a better and different flying experience for our customers.
Simply put, we want to be the airline for people who hate airlines.
Today I'm going undercover as a Frontier Airlines flight attendant.
How you doing? I'm good.
Richard.
Richard? Nice to meet you.
My name's Tui.
Before we get started, we're gonna have you put in a uniform.
I'm very excited to go undercover today and experience firsthand whether we're delivering that better and different flying experience for our customers.
We're gonna head to the gate.
Hustle, right.
Yeah, we don't want to be late, do we? Yeah, they're waiting for us so So where are we going today? Well, we're gonna go to San Diego.
San Diego? "Californ-I-a," yes.
Hey, guys, how you doing? Thank you.
Thank you.
The flight attendant position is critical, not just for the safety and security of our customers, but also in order to keep the airline running on time.
If one plane departs late, this could cause other flights to be delayed over the course of the day.
You're gonna be helping the customers with their bags.
You're gonna greet them.
So get the passengers on first.
Get out on time.
That's what we're looking for.
Okay.
Okay? Hi.
Hello.
Need any help? So, Richard, Richard, just go ahead and stay in the middle, and then just help them.
Hello.
What you looking for? Oh, you are so close.
Let me get that for you.
You look like you got your hands full.
Did you have a good flight out to Denver? Well, great.
How are you? How we doing? Broncos, all right.
Are we gonna have a good team this year? Richard is slowing me down.
He's too focused talking to passengers.
San Diego's not bad.
We have to speed up the process so we could get outta there.
Richard, talking is okay.
Just hustle it.
Departure time was actually eight minutes ago.
Oh, my goodness.
We gotta hustle.
Yeah.
Please, take your seats.
Sorry we're running a little late.
All right, guys, we really gotta hustle.
We gotta get a flight going.
Ma'am, what row are you in? Take our seats, guys.
I felt frustrated that I wasn't keeping up the pace.
We gotta get this plane out.
Please take your seats.
Sorry we're running a little late.
All right, guys, we really gotta hustle.
We gotta get a flight going.
Apologize for the minor delay here.
Looks like we're getting ready to light the candle here.
All right.
Okay, let's do the safety demo.
Okay.
Just listen to whatever she says.
Good luck.
In order to perform the safety briefing, our flight attendants receive special training.
However, I did get a chance to practice alongside Tui.
Thank you for choosing Frontier.
Our aircraft is equipped with six emergency exits.
There are two door exits in the front and two door exits in the rear of the cabin.
The safety presentation, you really don't have that much to remember.
Should there be a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will automatically drop from the compartment above your seat.
So you'd think an idiot like me could get that right, but I felt like it was a little discombobulated.
Please adjust your mask before assisting a child.
Whoops, missed that part.
Okay, so we're gonna work the cart.
You're gonna be in charge of the liquor.
Oh, thanks, man.
So go easy.
Check if your hair's okay.
Got no boogers and everything's okay.
What am I supposed to look at? Well, just make sure your hair-- oh, here's a mirror.
All right, well, I need a haircut.
[Laughs.]
Excuse me, sir.
Cart coming through.
Elbows, knees, elbows, knees.
Hey, I got a question.
Do you normally give them the napkin first? Give them the napkin first, and then the drink, and then the smile.
[Chuckles.]
Sir, can I offer you something to drink? A bottle of scotch? Yes.
[laughs.]
And I apologize.
Cranberry juice with ice.
Okay.
A little bit.
Ahh.
Richard, he's a very people person.
So, you know, he's always talking, all the time.
Do you do fist bump? Yeah.
It's a good thing, but it is also a bad thing.
I don't know.
Colts still look good to me.
We're on a time here.
We're trying to get this going before we land.
And one more.
Thank you very much.
We'll be landing shortly.
Ladies and gentlemen, now we're gonna turn off our lights with our magic powers.
[Laughter.]
Tui has a lot of fun with the customers.
He does tricks and things.
So Tui's doing a great job.
[Laughter.]
Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate your assistance in preparing the cabin for landing.
Please be sure that your seat belts are securely fastened.
We'll be landing shortly.
Thank you very much.
One of the things I wanted to learn today was whether or not our flight attendants understood the Frontier brand promise.
It was a good day.
Yes, it was.
Enjoyed the flight.
Oh, yeah.
So I was reading the side of the plane, and I see this "whole different animal.
" And I know there's animals on the tails, but what does that "whole different animal" mean? We do it way different from other flight attendants.
And we have great crews.
You know, we get a lot of compliments from passengers that flown our competitors, and they say, "oh, I haven't heard Frontier before.
Hey, man, you guys are so nice.
" You know, even if they're just coming and they're having a bad anniversary, I say, "no, we're gonna make it right.
"Come on, you spent all that money.
"I want to accommodate you.
What can I do to help you enjoy your flight?" In taking to Tui, he really go it.
I mean, he really understand that better and different is how we're gonna succeed as an airline against the big guys.
So how do you get--how do you do your schedules? How does that work? I work almost six days a week.
Here? Yes, here at Frontier.
I'm still barely making ends meet.
I dj on the side, and also I do luau on the sides.
No kidding.
My son, which is in college, so I have seven at home, but one in college.
But I still, you know, I put some money in his bank account, just whatever he needs.
I said, "if you don't go to college, "you're gonna be hustling like daddy.
You're gonna have three jobs.
" Mommy's doing two jobs, and, you know-- that's a big sacrifice.
It's a sacrifice, but you know what? It's our responsibility, and they come first.
As a father of eight children, I could certainly relate to Tui.
He represents that character of self-sacrifice and really wanting to make sure that he's working hard to lift his kids up to a better life.
I don't know what you get paid, but I imagine that the bigger airlines must pay a lot more, the big airlines do pay more.
And do you feel like you're being treated fairly? You know, uh, if I'm speaking honestly, um-- you should.
Okay, well, I think we're not asking a whole lot.
We're not asking for a raise.
We just ask for what we've been cut off.
What's that mean? They took 10% away.
We just want the 10% back.
Who took it away? The company.
Just a lot of cutbacks.
And we understand.
Speaking everybody here at Frontier Airlines, we just want fairness.
Tui shared a lot with me about his perceptions of the merger.
I mean, he was pretty vocal about wanting to get their pay cuts that they took in bankruptcy restored.
So that was a little bit of a hard feedback.
On a typical summer day, come through Frontier Airlines' Denver hub.
Now those flights have to be serviced.
And service doesn't just mean removing bottle and pop cans.
Service also means cleaning out the aircraft lavatories.
Excuse me, are you Hector? Yeah, how you doing? Nice to meet you.
I'm Richard.
Nice to meet you too.
Training with me today? Yes, I'm trying to get a job.
First thing I want you to do is change your uniform.
Okay.
Our lav truck drivers remove about over the course of a typical day.
So I'm really looking forward to going undercover to see how efficiently we're doing the job in order to keep the airline moving on time.
Hey, you look good.
Man, you look pretty good.
Thanks.
Our job is lavatory service.
We go out there, we drain the lav, and flush the whole system down, and put fresh blue juice in so it smells April fresh up there.
Imagine the flight attendants like that too.
Oh, yeah.
They call you back quite a few times if you don't do it right.
So we're gonna get it done right the first time, not the second time.
Okay.
Let's get ready to rock and roll.
So how many flights a day does Frontier have outta here? About a hundred-and-some planes.
And you're talking lots of poo-poo.
[Laughs.]
Lots of poo-poo.
And you've got your blue juice hose.
Blue juice hose goes open, close.
Very important you hear that click when you put it up there, 'cause if you don't put it on right, it'll popped off and you're gonna get sprayed with blue juice.
Has that ever happened to you? Yes.
[laughing.]
Oh, no.
Same thing with the dump valve.
Dump valve is open, closed.
You do not want to get dumped by this one.
Safety's number one.
I don't know if he has his tetanus shot.
I do, so I'm safe.
This is where everything comes out of, the human waste.
Open this end, and you can see what I'm talking about.
Yeah, I can smell what you're talking about.
Right.
Now touch the lever.
Oh, right.
Now when you're taking off, the first thing you do taking off is the blue handle goes back up.
If you don't, you're gonna keep on dripping down.
It's a $10,000 fine if the f.
A.
A.
Or the city catches you.
You're never quite sure what's gonna happen when you open up the panel and start pulling some of those valves.
When you're like this, you want to be very careful you don't get dumped on.
Nope.
Nope.
What? Make sure it's open.
I was very nervous about my first lav dump.
Flip that lever.
Blue handle.
If you do the job in the wrong order Go ahead.
Or if you rush, the consequences are pretty severe.
There you go.
Watch that orange hose.
It can pop off on you.
Keep an eye on it.
New guys always tense up.
They don't think of what they're doing.
Blue handle.
No! That's why I stay back four to five feet.
Ah.
What'd I tell you about the wind? That's nasty.
[Laughs.]
It's an entertaining job at some points.
If you're an entry-level person, I mean, how does the pay and benefits work? I mean, me, I make more money by working extra hours.
Is that a big burden on your family, to have to pick up extra time? Yeah, they don't like when I work late.
They don't, they don't.
Do a lot of folks pick up a lot of extra time? Yeah, a lot of people pick up shifts here like crazy.
We took pay cuts and everything to save the company.
If you woulda seen these people, man, you woulda seen all these guys, how they work.
You'd be so proud.
And you can tell, I get emotional.
Oh, yeah.
It's-- you know, it gets-- it's a family.
We got a bunch of hard-working guys out here.
They bent over backwards, you know, for this airline.
They did everything they could, and the did it, they saved it.
You hope they looked down, and they showed their appreciation by giving them something back, which I wish they would.
Just show a little appreciation.
Show you, hey, look what you've done for us.
"Thank you" is a great word.
But you got families to feed, and the economy, gas, everything going.
You need a little bit more, you know? Yeah.
It is thought-provoking to think how many people are on the edge out there, and that's a real problem in this country today.
You can read it in the paper.
You can read about 14 million unemployed Americans.
But it's different when you're sitting across the table from somebody who's living with that, and yet, you know, what they want in return from their company isn't all that much.
Tomorrow I get to return to my job as the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
And when I think about the 11,000 people that are counting on us to make this business work, it makes you want to work just as hard as they are to make sure that their sacrifices and their enthusiasm is rewarded.
Announcer: Coming up, Bryan summons his employees to company headquarters.
I'm not confused at all about what I want to say about the evaluation for Richard.
Announcer: How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm actually Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
After a week undercover, my journey has finally come to an end.
I think what surprised me most is the love that the employees have for this company.
It's unbelievable, and quite frankly it was unexpected.
But it really made an impact on me.
I really want to share my undercover experience with my senior management team so that we can all benefit from what I've learned.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome back.
Good to be back.
Believe me, I'll tell you, I don't know where to begin.
From many different perspectives, our airline's doing okay, but we've got a lot of work to do.
So I got an opportunity to be an aircraft appearance person.
Worked with this gal by the name of Sue.
Daniel, you schedule the airplanes.
So you know they're here for 45 minutes.
So there's really a very short window of time.
And while I think they're doing the best job they can, I gotta tell you, I don't feel like we're delivering the product the way we should.
So that's something I'd like to see us work on.
Cross-utilization Agent.
Anybody heard that term before? Above and below.
Above and below wing.
Yeah, but I could sort of understand if it was above the wing one day and below the wing the next day.
No, it's all in one flight.
At 115 degrees on the ramp in Oklahoma City, you know, after throwing bags on the airplane, to then want to go upstairs and sit in front of your customer, can she do it? Sure.
But did she feel she was really presenting the Frontier brand? Uh, no.
Is that something that you can come back with some suggestions on? Absolutely.
We've got a lot of good employees out there, and it's just amazing how many people we have that are the primary wage-earner.
You know, so that 10% pay cut just keeps, you know, resonating all the way through how impactful that must have been for our employees.
They are struggling.
You know, and I think we as senior management team, we should want to get out there and help our co-workers who are in greater need.
I mean, that was probably the most impactful experience that I had over this past week.
So I'd really like to see us go out there and walk the talk now.
Can I count on you? You can count on us.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
All of the employees I've worked with this week have been called to headquarters to supposedly vote for one of the two guys competing for the same job.
They have no idea why they're really here.
I'm not confused at all about what I want to say about the evaluation for Richard.
It's weird, 'cause you pick the wrong one, then you have a guy out there with no money to feed his family.
If it came to a choice, hire both of them.
[Dramatic music.]
hey, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Do you know who I am? Does this help? What's your real name? I'm actually Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Frontier Airlines.
Oh, lord.
You tricked me.
Hold me down, y'all.
[Laughs.]
Are you serious? Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Valerie, it was just great meeting you and to see what you do every day.
But the thing that really, really impacted me, just the hardships that you've endured.
I mean, it's just-- it's an amazing story for a single woman to have to be so strong.
And yet you still find the need to give back to others.
Valerie, what I'd like to do is give $10,000 to you to donate to the charity of your choice.
Really? Really, yeah, for your charity.
Oh, wow.
So--'cause I think you can do some really awesome work with that.
You want to go on the streets with me? I will be on the streets with you.
We will serve together.
That's awesome.
I used to dream, "oh, lord, I want to do this, and I want to do that, but the funds aren't there.
" With this $10,000, we can just, you know, bless other people.
I do believe in miracles, always--always will.
I always will believe in miracles.
Hector, you got a tough job, man.
You know, so-- it's not that bad.
Maybe it sounds worse than it is.
No, it sounds exactly what it is.
[Both laugh.]
But, you know, you're a great trainer.
Like I always say, if you go in there with a great attitude, no matter what you do, you'll make a wonderful day happen.
I thought it was a great philosophy.
Well, I'd like to figure out a way to leverage your enthusiasm and your passion for our airline and your courage to stand up for your co-workers, and create a forum where perhaps maybe you can go in and talk to our new-hire classes.
You know, where you can, you know, tell them, you know, what you do and how you do it.
Anything for fellow workers and employees, yeah, I don't mind.
'Cause I'd do anything for these guys.
I believe you.
I believe that you do.
And I saw it firsthand.
You know, you pick up a lot of guys' shifts.
You know, it seems like you work an awful lot.
I'm just curious, when was the last time you and your wife had some vacation time and-- once in a while, not much.
Well, I'd like to pay to send you guys on a week-long vacation.
Whoo! And I'll pick up the tab for that, so you pick someplace nice, someplace you and your wife can get away, and I'll make sure Frontier gives you the week off.
Thank you.
That's beautiful.
I really appreciate that.
The last time I went on vacation was about seven years, maybe eight years ago.
It's very generous, and coming from the heart, it's great.
It's a great feeling.
Sue, I really felt a connection with you.
I mean, you welcomed me into the airline.
You were very giving for me and forgiving.
"Richard! Hurry up, Richard!" I never hear, "richard, hurry up, Richard.
" You did-- I enjoyed it though.
You know, you shared some things that really touched me, when you shared with me that you lost your son.
And I gotta tell you, that--that really hit me.
My parents lost a child.
I can only imagine the pain that you had to go through.
And, you know, I've been thinking, you know, what can we do and how can we help you? And I don't--there's nothing that we can do to make up for the loss but-- no, no one can.
But what I'd like to do, I'd like to dedicate one of our aircraft to Andre.
Oh, that'd be so sweet.
I'd like to do that.
And I'd like you to pick your animal for that plane so that you can have a part of him with you every day.
Oh, that's so-- the other thing you shared with me was a picture of your Yeah.
And the relationship that you want to have with her.
So what I'd like to do for you is send you on a cruise with your granddaughter.
Oh, my goodness.
You have made my day.
You have made my-- I didn't think nobody would ever do nothing like this for me.
That's nice.
To see a tail on a plane that he told me to pick, every time I see that plane, I'm gonna say, "there go Andre.
There go Andre.
" Because he will never get to see what we see today.
This is a beautiful day.
It's a beautiful day.
Tui, out of all the people I talked to, you're the one who just nailed the brand promise.
You're the one guy who could really articulate to me what it meant to be better and different.
And that's why I would like to create a new branding committee, and I'd like to make you the chairman of that committee.
And I think if we can harness that energy, if somehow we can take that inspiration, you know, that you create, we'll be an unstoppable force.
Yes, for sure.
Another thing that I would like to do for you personally, as a father of eight I know the struggle, and we talked about your son is in college and books and tuition are expensive.
I'd like to contribute $20,000 to help you get your kids into college, man.
'Cause I think that's important.
Is that okay? Thank you.
'Cause you're just awesome, and I really enjoyed working with you, and I want to keep working with you.
I want to be part of your life, and I want us to go to greater heights here, man.
Thank you, Bryan.
Appreciate that.
Just so shocked.
My son's in college, and it's so hard.
I'm just so grateful to receive that blessing from him.
I just want the best for my children.
[Sniffling.]
[Indistinct chatter.]
Ladies and gentlemen, the CEO of Frontier Airlines, Bryan Bedford.
[Cheers and applause.]
Yeah! Whoo! [Cheers and applause.]
Thank you very much.
I know each of you are expecting to get an update of our second quarter financial performance.
But I've actually asked you to come here today for an entirely different reason.
For the past week, I've been working undercover at Frontier Airlines.
[Murmuring and applause.]
I really want show just a couple of clips of some of the jobs I was privileged to do and some of the folks that I was privileged to work with.
So let's take a look.
Okay, let's do the safety demo.
Our aircraft is equipped with six emergency exits.
[Laughter.]
Yeah, I felt like it was a little discombobulated with where I was supposed to be pointing.
Come on, Richard.
There you go.
Hurry, hurry.
He's kinda slow, but he's trying.
[Laughter.]
Wow, that's nasty.
[Laughter.]
[Cheers and applause.]
When I started this undercover journey a week ago, I took it as sort of a business assignment.
You know, I had a mission.
But I have to tell you, I got so much more out of this experience than what I expected going into it.
I know that our employees had to endure a 10% pay cut.
And I could see firsthand how the pay cuts were impacting people.
Which is why everybody on the senior management team was uniform that this is something that we need to do, and it's the right time to do it.
I want to recover those wage cuts over the next three years.
Yeah! Yeah! [Cheers and applause.]
Whoo! And I gotta tell you, it's not gonna stop here.
So I want to thank Sue, Hector, and Valerie, and Tui.
Thank you for educating me.
Thank you for the gift that you've given me, to understand what it means to be a Frontier Airlines employee.
And God bless you all.
[Cheers and applause.]
Go, Bryan! This week, I had the most amazing journey.
This certainly puts a face to all the decisions that I'll be forced to make now.
That touched me very deep.
It's a great feeling to have someone that cares.
To get the 10% back, it means a big deal financially.
It means he cares about us.
He cares for this company.
He cares for our future, and he also definitely cares for our family.
You can't not be changed by this experience.
I mean, it'll be a part of the fabric of who I am as a person and certainly as an executive.
So no doubt in my mind, I'll be a better representative for our employees in all of our boardroom decisions.
[Cheerful music.]
announcer: Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.