Is Parker next?

[Fly4Free]

JetBlue founder ousted as CEO

3 months after service meltdown trapped passengers on the tarmac, JetBlue taps a new CEO; founder to stay as chair.
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
May 10 2007: 1:28 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JetBlue Airways ousted its founder from his CEO job Thursday, three months after the service problems that stranded passengers on grounded jets for hours dented the airline's reputation for customer service.

David Neeleman, 47, will stay on as chairman of the company he's led since its founding in 1998 and its first flight in 2000. But David Barger, 49, who had been president of the upstart discount airline since 1998, will become chief executive officer.


JetBlue founder David Neeleman gave up his CEO post at the urging of his board, but will remain chairman.




"Knowing that Dave Barger was ready to succeed him as CEO, the board suggested to Dave Neeleman that he could best serve the company as a strategic visionary," JetBlue spokeswoman Alison Eshelman said Thursday morning.


http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/10/news/compa...sion=2007051012

 

[Fly4Free]

It's a bad day to be King.

Seriously. You think that if one snaffu caused that guy to get fired, they'd let Parker keep his job? The airline is going downhill.. stock is in freefall, SHARES caused a headache. Add in angry pax like you and other FFers who have stopped flying, I think that USAirways is on an irreversible course. They need to stop and think about what they are doing. What worked at AWA may not work with US Airways. Just my opinion.

 

[EMBFA]

Maybe we'll buy them out. No unions, eliminate a competitor, reduce overlap, strength in existing northeast markets, 100 A320s to replace our 100 737s, 40 E190s for growth, owns Live TV. Hmmm wouldn't surprise me...

 

[IMisstheAladdinTrays]

Maybe we'll buy them out. No unions, eliminate a competitor, reduce overlap, strength in existing northeast markets, 100 A320s to replace our 100 737s, 40 E190s for growth, owns Live TV. Hmmm wouldn't surprise me...

Yeah, and get all those NYC to Florida routes back! Can't wait for that.

 

[FWAAA]

Maybe we'll buy them out. No unions, eliminate a competitor, reduce overlap, strength in existing northeast markets, 100 A320s to replace our 100 737s, 40 E190s for growth, owns Live TV. Hmmm wouldn't surprise me...

JetBlue is very ill. Long term debt and capital lease obligations equal to 111% of annual revenue. That's substantially higher than at AMR, a company widely thought of as a debt-laden, troubled airline.

JetBlue is one travel downturn from Ch 11; you can buy their A320s at the liquidation if that happens. The 190s? So you can burn thru even more money? Perhaps they'd be worth it if Embraer can make them as reliable as their smaller cousins.

 

[safety stud]

If Parker goes... Who would you put in... Kirby...
Hope not...

Just my opinion...

 

[CynicalResAgent]

Their operational problems seem like nothing compared to US. Also the labor unrest at US continues to grow worse by the day atleast at B6 they have a fairly motivated workforce. From what I am reading about the pilots negotiations things sound bleak at US.

 

[US1YFARE]

What worked at AWA may not work with US Airways.

It is interesting you say this. I was at a deposition this week with a number of lawyers from the East Coast and West Coast. Both complained about the NEW USAirways.

The Westies said that the East operation has ruined the airline and the Easties said the Westies ruined the operation. It looks like it is the management who has ruined the operation for both sides of the operation as they do not understand the company's customer base on either side of the country. I think it is safe to say their model for a regional carrier does not translate into a global carrier model.

And another thing, people on here say, oh, HP flew to those East coat & tie destinations before the merger--yeah, one red-eye a day and the people taking those flights are not the biz people filling the hourly PHL-BOS flights.

 

[wings396]

I have seen many CEO's come and go over the past 25 years. Each has been worse than the last, so be careful what you wish for. Parker has his issues, but who is out there to take his place? There is very little Airline CEO material out there today, and that has been very evident. Bringing in a CEO that has little or no Airline background will do nothing to change the current state of affairs. The only capable person out there with lots of experience would be Bethune, and I doubt that he wants to deal with this mess at his age. :blink:

 

[US1YFARE]

Also the labor unrest at US continues to grow worse by the day atleast at B6 they have a fairly motivated workforce.

Yes, and DL has a VERY motivated workforce thanks to Mr. DUI Parker.

 

[Travelpro72]

The fact is, Usairways is in a friggin tailspin and there seems to be no end in sight. Our CEO is NOT doing a very good job at all with running this company. It has been nothing but broken promises and bullsh!t stories. Not only are the employees very disgruntled but keep watching that stock and see how long the board stays quiet. Though the talent may be slim pickins there are others out there. I myself wouldn't want to get involved with this mess. The talent we have running this place today from the top down may be pretty smart but not very good at running an airline. It's like watching a bunch of 16 year olds trying to keep the drive-thru line moving at McDonalds. Actually a 16 year old might do just as good a job.

 

[JMM]

Maybe we'll buy them out. No unions, eliminate a competitor, reduce overlap, strength in existing northeast markets, 100 A320s to replace our 100 737s, 40 E190s for growth, owns Live TV. Hmmm wouldn't surprise me...

I thought the same thing. Their inflight product is something we are striving for with the recently announced customer service initiatives. We could transfer flights out of PHL to the new JFK hub ... lots of new Airbuses ..... we would never do that though....

 

[Travelpro72]

I can see the fit but on a grand scale is Jetblue a really serious competitor on many of our routes? It would certainly take out a competitor but I don't think it would make a dent as the attempt at Delta would have. Ya never know though. It IS as if they have their minds on other things out in HQ don't it?

 

[bigbusdrvr]

Maybe we'll buy them out. No unions, eliminate a competitor, reduce overlap, strength in existing northeast markets, 100 A320s to replace our 100 737s, 40 E190s for growth, owns Live TV. Hmmm wouldn't surprise me...

--------------------------------------------------------

If we buy them then no pilot at east or west will get an upgrade for at least 15yrs.

They are relatively new as a carrier, so based upon nichaulei's perspective they should probably be slotted from 517 straight to the end of thier list. Then you could continue with the rest of the "New Seniority" list.

Mergers in the future will be a free for all....

 

[BoeingBoy]

Mergers in the future will be a free for all....

Name many that haven't been since deregulation, and there's a reason.....

Prior to deregulation, ALPA carriers fit pretty neatly into two groups - the majors (UA, AA, PA, TW, etc) and the regionals (PI, AAA, PSA, old Republic, Ozark, etc). The industry as a whole generally, and within groups especially, rose and fell together. Like carriers were generally hiring at the same time or furloughing at the same time. When there were mergers, the "shotgun marriages" arranged by the CAB were generally between carriers in the same group. In that environment, DOH was a pretty good proxy for seniority and ALPA merger policy reflected that.

Then comes deregulation. As the effects took hold, some carriers grew and some shrank, some hired as others furloughed. ALPA, in it wisdom or folly (depending on your perspective) recognized that DOH was no longer a proxy for seniority across carriers and the merger policy changed.

People blame the change on UA, but they didn't have the votes to change it unilaterally - other pilot groups had to agree. Representatives of the majority of ALPA pilots decided collectively that the change was appropriate and here we are.

That's also why ALPA national won't touch this with a 10 foot pole, other than letting the East folks give their little presentation. Take a look around the industry. Find another ALPA carrier whose pilots would want to be locked into a DOH integration if they ended up merging not just with US, but with any carrier whose fortunes had been worse than their own.

Jim