Without the growth in 1984 thru 1989, how many of us wouldn't be employed today? I wouldn't, and I suspect most of you (except perhaps for NHBB) wouldn't either.
In 1981, AMR had 41,000 employees, 231 aircraft, and revenues of around $4.1B. And that 41,000 employees included Sky Chefs and Sabre...
In 2001, AMR had 120,000 employees, 850 aircraft with AA/TW, another 275 aircraft with Eagle, and revenues of $18.9B.
In 1981, AMR paid out 1.5B in salaries and benefits to 41,000 employees. Average = $39,000
In 2001, AMR paid out 8.3B in salaries and benefits to 120,000 employees. Average = $69,000
Bi[span]t[/span]ch and moan about what you view the failures to be, but the fact still remains that with all of the events you point out above from the past 20 years, there are just as many positives you ignore.
Since 1991, revenues grew almost 500% (not profits, mind you, but people buying our products), the fleet size increased by 389%, and the number of people employed grew by 300%.
Annualized, that's 25% revenue growth, 19% fleet growth, and 15% employment growth.
Growth like that is hardly an indicator of a continual failed management strategy.