Give credit where credit is due!

[Hopeful]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45607768#45607768

The saddest part about this is how he was considered wrong by the business community of greed mongers for NOT filing bankruptcy!

If anyone thinks great pain does not lie ahead for most of AA's people....Think again!

 

[737823]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45607768#45607768

The saddest part about this is how he was considered wrong by the business community of greed mongers for NOT filing bankruptcy!

If anyone thinks great pain does not lie ahead for most of AA's people....Think again!

At least you're willing to review the film with an open mind! So was Arpey really that bad Hopeful?

Josh

 

[Hopeful]

At least you're willing to review the film with an open mind! So was Arpey really that bad Hopeful?

Josh

Before I get reary eyed about Arpey's character, I have to say that even though it is admirable what he did..I cannot give him or any predecessor too much credit when I think of major management decisions over the decades. Starting with the building of RDU and BNA hubs and all that investment, it wasn't too long before those places became practically vacant. What was that about? How much time and money was spent removing seats only to install them?(MRTC)
How about retreating from markets only to give them to low cost competitors? buying Folkers?? MD11's? All the logistics and training to go along with that?
Yes, there have been good decisions, but the bad ones are the ones that linger with negative long term effects.

But I did know all along that it was Arpey who resisted filing for bankruptcy and I did respect that. Now what we have is Horton who has made no secret how he feels about certain aspects of AA's operation.That is most worrisome.

 

[eolesen]

Lots of people like to point at the bad decisions made over the years, but at least they were decisions. No risk, no reward.

 

[WorldTraveler]

While it is indeed commendable that Arpey stuck to his principles which have a valid moral basis, even despite the fact that BK is a legal act, there were other consequences of Arpey's actions that resulted from Arpey's decision not to file.... there are conflicting moral objectives in many arenas of life such as: where is the moral concern about AA employees and the future of the company by not filing earlier so that the degree of cuts could be minimized? Borrowing in general is frought w/ moral consequences.... becoming deeply in debt is not something that ends up well in many cases... particularly when you look competitively that other carriers were reducing debt while AA/AMR was taking on more.
.
Perhaps the greatest moral failure of Arpey was in trying to hold onto AMR too long - which wasn't HIS company at all and thus HIS morals really don't apply - but instead step down when it became clear that AA could not successfully restructure w/o a trip to BK court. The DL/NW merger was legally completed 3 years ago and even the UA/CO merger a year ago and the WN/FL merger more recently made it clear that there would be healthy companies who would grow... it was no longer possible for AA to limp along wounded and much smaller than its peers.
.
Now AA employees will join the group of network carrier employees who have suffered the double dip and its creditors will take cuts now that if they had taken earlier might have actually been larger because of AA's then younger fleet in comparison - and AA employees could have taken smaller cuts.
.
Hindsight is always 20/20 but Arpey would only have been remembered favorably if he had managed to avoid BK and succeed at turning the cmopany around w/o another trip to BK. The fact that Arpey chose to focus on some moral values while not focusing on others - all the time making it harder and harder for AA to return to its former strength - will mute whatever applause Arpey could have received.

 

[jimntx]

As I said on another thread...I would be a lot more open to believing his sanctimonious blather today if he had refused some/all of those bonusses over the years; i.e., "it is morally and ethically wrong for me to accept million dollar plus bonusses when the company is losing $100s of millions of dollars each quarter."

 

[WorldTraveler]

As I said on another thread...I would be a lot more open to believing his sanctimonious blather today if he had refused some/all of those bonusses over the years; i.e., "it is morally and ethically wrong for me to accept million dollar plus bonusses when the company is losing $100s of millions of dollars each quarter."

This article shows that even in the financial community there are those who are concerned about the track America is taking and how it is destabilizing a society that has long been viewed as the strongest economic miracle in the history of mankind. The insights are particularly interesting given that they are coming from a country where equality has long been more of a goal than reality.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-privilege-rots-an-empire-from-within-2011-12-11?pagenumber=1
American privilege rots an empire from within
Well-paid professionals are contributing to U.S. economy’s demise

Key quotes:

"The gap between the rich and the rest, which has roughly doubled over the past two decades in the United States, is an inevitable result of competition. Of course, competition motivates people, and inequality is often a price worth paying if it motivates people to make the pie bigger. All could be better off with a bigger pie, even if inequality worsened. Limiting competition improves equality but decreases incentives for people to work. A society needs to make a trade-off between the two.

Inequality worsens in an environment of limited competition, as inefficiency and social friction rise

Some 45% of federal expenditures go toward health and social security programs. This slice of the spending pie is expected to rise to 51% of total expenditures by 2016. Unless something happens that suddenly disrupts this upward spiral, these two parts of the fiscal budget will bankrupt the country.
"
Meanwhile, the federal government spends a mere 3% on education. Local governments fund most education services through property taxes, yet it’s shocking to see how little the federal government supports youths as opposed to retired people.

Historians have all sorts of theories on why the Roman Empire fell, blaming everything from religion to barbarians. My take is that every empire in history eventually rots from within when privilege, not contribution, becomes the basis for compensation.

 

[Frank Szabo]

quote name='WorldTraveler' timestamp='1323700802' post='853751']
While it is indeed commendable that Arpey stuck to his principles which have a valid moral basis, even despite the fact that BK is a legal act, there were other consequences of Arpey's actions that resulted from Arpey's decision not to file....

[/quote]

A corporate executive with morals? Send me some of what you're smoking - please.

snip

Now AA employees will join the group of network carrier employees who have suffered the double dip and its creditors will take cuts now that if they had taken earlier might have actually been larger because of AA's then younger fleet in comparison - and AA employees could have taken smaller cuts.

The "double-dip" would have occured had last year's TA been accepted. Now, the bastards will get only one dip, not counting 2003.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but Arpey would only have been remembered favorably if he had managed to avoid BK and succeed at turning the company around w/o another trip to BK. The fact that Arpey chose to focus on some moral values while not focusing on others - all the time making it harder and harder for AA to return to its former strength - will mute whatever applause Arpey could have received.

Arpey couldn't manage people nor was he willing to learn the basics of doing so. He was a loser that got where he was because his daddy was an executive at an airline. He showed he would rather hire outside management than get his own act together.

Soldiers in Patton's command during WWII hated him but would follow him to hell if he'd asked them to. That kind of leadership would have turned the company around but, unfortunately, it quite rare anymore and when found would not be tolerated by a Board of Directors more interested in political correctness than running a business.

 

[TWU informer]

Lots of people like to point at the bad decisions made over the years, but at least they were decisions. No risk, no reward.

The same can be said for those that advocated voting NO on the T/A.

 

[MCI transplant]

The same can be said for those that advocated voting NO on the T/A.

<_< ------- informer, hindsight is always 20/20!------ It didn't happen that way! So live with it!!! Don't cry about it!