Yet another AA merger article
- Thread starter Hopeful
- Start date
I would like to read an article about how AA has poisoned labor relations or the amount of money wasted on Boston Consulting. This is just another article from a lazy reporter not willing to leave his cubical to investigate anything. That might be a new career field for all of us, reading a company's press release, form an "opinion" then write an article.
Perhaps crushing labor costs, crippling work rules and scope clauses ARE a large part of AA's trouble. Management certainly is to blame as well but labor has not been fully engaged in making AA successful and a competitive player in the global marketplace
How has AA poisoned labor relations with the unions? Besides the executive bonuses which are part of managements negotiated contracts what have they done to stall negotiations? Negotiations are costly for the company in staff time, lost productivity, hotel costs, media relations. The company doesn't want to drag its feet anymore than workers do but they have a responsibility to their shareholders to reach an equitable and fair contract.
If things at AA are so bad, the workers should look for opportunities outside the company. I'm not sure I'd advise you pursue a rapidly changing and shrinking media and communications industry.
Josh
Costly to the company??? AA saves One Million Dollars a day on keeping its union members working under the expired contracts. BTW , labor is the back bone of this country !!! All we want is a fair contract that is something and worthwhile. If you saw what AA is wanting us to accept, you'd run the other way. Shame on management !!!
D
Deleted member 17588
Guest
Josh,
You couldn't be more wrong! "Labor has not been fully engaged in making AA successful and a competitive player in the global marketplace." In what way should we be engaged? Make the executive business decisions? We could certainly be engaged that way, but isn't that the job of the so-called competent executive management? AA is lucky it runs as well as it does thanks to the hardworking front line employees who are constantly undermined by the changing whims of management. How about we just take more pay cuts? Would that be engaging enough for you? Maybe we should work for free and pay AA for the pleasure of working there....just until they get back on their feet? Would that be a tax deductible charity for my income tax filing?
"Negotiations are costly for the company in staff time, lost productivity, hotel costs, media relations. The company doesn't want to drag its feet anymore than workers do but they have a responsibility to their shareholders to reach an equitable and fair contract."
Puleeeez......every single day we go without a new contract SAVES the company millions of dollars. AA is in no hurry get new contracts, especially since retro pay doesn't seem to be on any of the unions' agendas. We're coming close to the year 2011, yet we're all working for wages that were drastically slashed over seven years ago. I would say we've been quite engaged, thank you very much.
Crippling work rules, scope clauses , crushing labor costs et al are also negotiated items and signed off by the Company as well the unions. The only difference between those items and the executive bonuses that you mention are the negotiated compensation packages were never signed off on by the employees.
I understand your frustration working under stagnant wages and after hearing about the bleak outlook for your company to see management collect executive bonuses. Business is unemotional and as it seems to me, labor feels they made concessions as an act of benevolence to management to help the company in 2003. In anything, making the concessions was more advantageous to labor because had AA filed bankruptcy, I am fairly confident your RPA pay and work rules are more generous than your peers at UA, PM-NW, and non-union PM-DL under bankruptcy imposed contracts and work rules wages (since PM-DL is currently non-union they have no contract).
Compare your earnings as an AA employee to your peers at those carriers and non-union JetBlue, Virgin regionals, and third party contractors like Swissport. Im not advocating that labor work for free, but you labor unions need to understand the nature of their business. Face it, air travel has become a commodity business for the most part with few exceptions. United, JetBlue, American, or to a certain extent Virgin are perfectly substitutable, commodity goods for a non-stop BOS-LAX flight. AA is largely a price taker since they no longer able to set prices in many markets. Something is going to have to give and the traveling public is not going to pay more as we see time and time again. Sure you have people that expect to fly BOS-LAX non-stop expect a hot meal, PTVs, 2 pieces of checked luggage, etc for $99 but most of the traveling public has become accustomed to the unbundling and price competitive nature of the industry. What does AA offer someone who flies 3-4x year and isn't an elite AAdvantage member or be bound by a corporate contract like I currently am? Why not fly JetBlue and get superior in-flight service, LiveTV, unlimited snacks and drinks, 1 free checked bag, and modern Airbus aircraft?
At first I was upset about AA's recent decision to drawback BOS but now I have the opportunity to fly other carriers and starting in November I'll be flying Virgin to SFO.
Josh
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Hopeful
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Go on and finish the rest of upper managements' "negotiated" contracts.....What other goodies do the boys at the top negotiate OTHER than PUPS? Expense accounts? Country Club Memberships? Positive space seating for them and their family to go to Disneyworld and Cabo San Lucas? Oh yeah,,theyre always on business 24/7..
Anyone else ever notice that AA likes to negoitate its workers contracts DOWN, while they negotiate theirs UP?
What have they done to stall negotiations?????????????
NOTHING!!! That's what they've done. And the reason they will keep stalling is because it COSTS THEM NOTHING!
It may come to that but our odds are better if we run AA out of business first. Other carriers would scoop up AA routes , equipment and employees in short order just like AA and other carriers scooped up the routes and employees of EAL and Pan Am.
telebender1956
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- Oct 7, 2010
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You are right on. I'm not going to voluntarily give up anymore concessions to this sorry excuse for management at AA. Where is Bob Crandall when we need him?
Isn't this already happening? Quite literally it is. It seems many routes AA drops in places like BOS, SFO, STL a combination of Alaska, JetBlue and Southwest are always quick to fill the void. Some of your furloughed colleagues have left for other carriers-I once had a PM-DL FA that was former TWA/AA and said the DL culture was much better and she's happier at DL. DL has several of the former TWA 757s outfitted with winglets, wifi, AVOD running transcons and lucrative JFK international routes.
AA is diminishing in its size and influence as the article clearly indicates. In three years time you've gone from being the #1 carrier to a distant third or perhaps 4th player once AirTran-Southwest closes. The clock is ticking and 2013 will be very interesting to watch and see how AA responds to SWA at Love Field. AA has gone from a dominant to a small player at BOS and once the impending cutbacks go through, by April you will only serve CDG, DFW, ORD, MIA, LAX, JFK, LGA, LHR, STT and YYZ. Of those routes, only two airports (DFW and MIA) and one marketplace (Dallas/Ft. Worth) will not already be served by other carriers. With the reductions, DL will offer more destinations and capacity and perhaps UA+CO will also eclipse AA at Logan.
Josh
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Unfortunately there are employees who do not understand this, or do not want to understand this. Pointing out the reality is like speaking a foreign language or teaching string theory. Many still cling to the fantasy that there is enough money to return to 2003 income levels and more. While there may very well be jobs like that out there, it certainly isn't the current ones at AA/AMR.
telebender1956
Member
- Oct 7, 2010
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The only fantasy that I cling to is not giving up MORE CONCESSIONS to the incompetent management at AA. They are like junkies who were given a fix in 2003 and now want more drugs[CONCESSIONS] to compensate for their poor management skills. AA Management are the ones who kept taking hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars of wealth out of the Company after we had given up huge concessions in 2003.The work groups at AA haven't forgot it either.
I'm tired of being compared to JetBlue who doesn't even play in the major leagues and besides Southwest is doing a good job of knocking them out of the way.
As a 25 year veteran of AA who saw a great Airline reduced to 3rd class when Robert Crandall retired I'm at a point of not willing to give up anymore concessions even it it means shutting down AA.The management of this airline is so sorry that the veteran employees of AA don't care if AA succeeds or fails.I'm sure I'm not the only one with this attitude at AA.You tell someone they are the problem long enough and they will start believing it and acting like it. AA Management has just reaped what it has sown and it is not very pretty.
I don't think you really know what you're talking about. In 2003 we had our labor contracts gutted just as big as the other airlines that went into bankruptcy, all the while the executives were getting bonus's. How they deserve bonus's as the stock was shrinking and the airline is losing money is beyond my ethical back ground. While I believe our executives have made some real good decisions, I also think they have wasted a lot of money on bad decisions. In 2003 the mechanics gave 17%, the FA's 13% the pilots I think was 22%, in pay alone not including benefits and other work rule changes in the contract. In TUL, our OH guys made the overhaul lines more efficient which saved a lot of money. In the TA AA was going to offer a 4% raise, then a 1.5% rasie the next 2 years. While taking away benits from new hires and guys under 50. We are not unreasonable, but we expect a palatable contract.
a qoute from AMR CEO Gerard Arpey.........
"If you ever allow yourself or your management to identify labor as the problem, you are not only wrong, you also cause everyone else to wait for the solution."
