A Hope For A Great 2004!

[FWAAA]

Though I am sure there are some highly competent managers at AMR, it seems to me that the majority got to their current positions via their adeptness at derriere osculation. And, as someone who once worked as a headhunter, I doubt that the headhunters are circling AMR's executive suite these days. Headhunters are predominantly interested in picking off the prime meat from SUCCESSFUL companies. If there is an airline executive office (among the majors) that is being encircled, I would guess it is Continental.

Remember Continental? The company that has not furloughed a single flight attendant since 9/11, and has not asked for a dime in concessions from its employees.

Your claim that headhunters are likely not circling the AA managerial ranks is contradicted by the article posted by Hopeful.

AA managers are leaving in droves for higher pay elsewhere. Of course, you will deem that a non-problem.

If I had just given up huge concessions, I'd be pissed if the company's managers were fleeing like rats off a sinking ship. Their departure makes the company's recovery less likely. The only rational reason to agree to concessions is the hope that the company eventually recovers so that you can share in that recovery.

And CO's employees? You think the grass is greener over there??

Their concessions were wrung out of them in the two prior bankruptcies. They have been taking it in the shorts for over 10 years now, as CO has had the lowest labor costs of any of the network legacy carriers. Your recent concessions simply brought AA closer to CO's cost structure.

 

[jimntx]

Your claim that headhunters are likely not circling the AA managerial ranks is contradicted by the article posted by Hopeful.

AA managers are leaving in droves for higher pay elsewhere. Of course, you will deem that a non-problem.

If I had just given up huge concessions, I'd be pissed if the company's managers were fleeing like rats off a sinking ship. Their departure makes the company's recovery less likely. The only rational reason to agree to concessions is the hope that the company eventually recovers so that you can share in that recovery.

And CO's employees? You think the grass is greener over there??

Their concessions were wrung out of them in the two prior bankruptcies. They have been taking it in the shorts for over 10 years now, as CO has had the lowest labor costs of any of the network legacy carriers. Your recent concessions simply brought AA closer to CO's cost structure.

The article said that they were leaving. It did NOT say that headhunters were recruiting them to other jobs. It said that someone said that headhunters were circling the company. It's called creating a market. Any manager who reads that statement who hasn't been contacted by a headhunter will make the contact himself because he (or she) gets into the what-wrong-with-me mode. And, you know, it is possible for even an executive to start the job search himself.

And, maybe part of CO's lower labor costs is the result of more efficient use of their employees (such as reserves) rather than just lower pay. As a matter of fact, the CO f/a's received a raise this month according to the schedule of their current contract. Their top of scale is now higher than AA's f/a top of scale.

Oh, and I understand that CO has plans for a new hire f/a class around the middle of 2004. How long do you think it will be before AA can hire again? At least 5 years or until 6000+ furloughed f/as are recalled whichever comes first.

 

[dogdriver]

FWAAA,

There will be bonuses, but only for a select few.

You are correct. Those would be the employees who agreed that some of their comp would be based on AA's financial performance.

I'm certain that AA would have entertained an offer by the organized workgroups to base some of their comp on the financial performance for the next six years, but somehow I doubt very many of the unionized employees would have gone along with it. After all, sharing in the upside would be fine with them; but sharing in the downside is "unjustified and unfair." B)

FWAAA,

We had a portion of our compensation based on performance. It was called profit sharing. We received up to 8% of our pay depending on how much AMR made. We got that plan by trading something of value for it. Now, the profit sharing is gone, along with what we traded to get it (I forget what that was). On the downside, we lost 23% of our pay, 1/2 of our sick time and 1/2 of our vacation.
If that is not sharing in the downside, then I give up.

As for the select few that I mentioned, they are the ones who get to stack the deck. They can't lose. You know, guys like that idiot Carty, who left here with many millions (I hear $13M to be exact). And just what did he do to earn it? Please, if you know, tell me.

Lastly, while I'm talking about our management team, I can't believe that some think they deserve more. These are the people that just happened to find $2 Billion worth of savings. When I read about that, the first thing that came to mind was that I couldn't believe that they wasted all of that money for all of those years. I don't think they deserve more money, just a boot in the AAss out the door.