Airlines fall, victors smugly smile

[Phoenix]

This is a documentary about how management, bankers, and lawyers join forces to make gobbs of money at employee and taxpayer expense while the airlines are transformed to the new pardigm.

Some may have seen it already (I hope everyone) but even so this deserves a few minutes of your time if you haven't recently had a chance to hear the top power brokers in their own words on camera.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/re.../view/2_hi.html

Admitedly it is primarily about Untied but obviously the exact same thing happend at USAir first, and twice.

Since there are so many labor contracts at USAir in the middle of negotiations, I thought it might be useful to consider what the guys on the other side of the table are thinking.

Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Piney, I appreciate your newfound religion.

The right time to say no was when we still had something. If it was not possible to get ALPA to say no to the pension giveaway (for USAir, United, Delta, …) then frankly I don’t need to bother to look at my ALPA magazine until I run out of TP.

I have been called for a recall and will not return. Count that as a vote for my new career. Fortunately over the course of my 5 year furlough (wow 5 years already!) I have been able to change careers and am doing better than anything a pilot position at USAir will ever become. Which, as I think of it, might not really be saying too much. I travel regularly in my new career and I choose not to travel on USAir if another carrier goes there. Count that as a no vote for the management of USAir.

I really enjoyed my time at USAir and the diversity of people there (And I recognize that 10s of thousands are no longer there). Their backgrounds and experiences made them a pleasure to fly with. They are hard working and dedicated professionals and I was proud to work with them to provide a great service.

Until the folks at USAir wake up to the reality that the powers that be (and ALPA is not excluded) seemingly would have no qualms about selling their neighbor’s wife on the street corner (if they could talk her husband into it) then the employees will not realize they need to stand tall, instead of have another obsequious dialogue.

Best wishes to all,

Phoenix

 

[diogenes]

Unions were one of the three pillars (the other two being the New Deal and the GI Bill) that unleashed ordinary Americans to create something the world had never seen - a broad and powerful middle class. The investor class has sought to overturn those pillars ever since - they don't want the competition.

Reagan's PATCO firing signalled the business community that the war on unions would be umpired in a one-sided fashion.

And sadly, far too much union leadership "sold their birthrights for a mess of pottage."

So here in the year of our Lord 2007, we see unions on the ropes, fewer working class kids able to afford college, and with the new bankruptcy bill and fewer decent-paying jobs, the beginning of folks unable to own their homes.

Reagan's campaign slogan should have read "Back to the 1880's.

Hopefully, working people will wake up before they will need to make the same sacrifices their grandfathers did.

http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/curricul.htm

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

I've quoted Mr Kelleher from an interview here many times and if 30+ profitable years isn't enough to validate his views then I don't know what ever will.

"JUST SAY NO!"

Bob-o: why won't you fly WN ?

 

[hp_fa]

Yikes, this was aired 6-12 mos. ago. That said it is quite well done and very pertinent to the business.

 

[PHL]

Reagan's campaign slogan should have read "Back to the 1880's.

The ATC strike you refer to....wasn't that an ILLEGAL walkout?

Would you rather it have been "back to the dark ages"?

That's was a very real possibility with the push of a button from Russia and the US. The realtions he built with Gorbachev were nothing short of remarkable.

You say he's union unfriendly..ok, fine. What about the reduction of the taxes for everyone? He signed into law numerous tax bils that helped America grow as a whole. The highest bracket is no longer 70% that it was before he took office. It fell to 28%. The economy throughout his term boomed without the high rate of inflation that occured throughout the 70s.

So, what exactly are you referring to when you say "back to the 1880's" because frankly, the 1980's was by all accounts good for America.

 

[diogenes]

The Cold War was won by the decisions of a variety of presidents, Republican and Democrat alike. Truman (Democrat) set the tone with the Berlin Airlift, and JFK did ok during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Communism as a going concern was bound to fail sooner or later (it ignores human nature), and Reagan made a good decision to outspend them - that was the final straw that broke their back. He deserves his share of credit, but certainly not all of it.

The taxes rates were lowered, and middle-class deductions were severely reduced (consumer interest, like for car loans), meaning the total dollars paid in by many middle class taxpayers didn't change all that much.Somehow, corporations are still able to capitalize or expense not only their interest, but the entire purchase. I still have my tax records from those years and the total dollars I paid in did not go down, just as they have not gone down under Bush's tax relief.

From 1980 - 1988 (Reagan's term of office) the US went thru two recessions and median income rose from $39,739 to 43,168 (measured in 2005 constant dollars)for an increase of $3429.

From 1992 - 2000 (That spawn of Satan, Clinton's reign of terror) there were no recessions and median income rose from 41,774 (median income fell during Bush I's term of office) to 47,599, an increase of $5825.

3429/5825 = 58.8%. Median income rose 59% higher under Clinton than Reagan.

Interestingly, median income fell from 47,599 in 2000 to 45,817 in 2004.

Like father, like son, I guess.

 

[PITbull]

Recently I've been much more vocal in support of the employees getting a proper share of the profits and I found this documentary disturbing on several levels.

During BK's one and two I encouraged employees to "bite the bullet" and keep the enterprise alive until profits returned. You did and I commend you for that. I know it wasn't even a little bit easy.

Lately to some I've "changed my tune" and have been called on it a few times. Being called a "Trouble Maker" 😀 DUH, ya think so!!! 😛

So on the surface it seems a bit hypocritical given that the cutbacks in amenities are now directly impacting me. I'd like to explain why I've changed my position.


It's time to take a stand, time to let the investment community know that people united with a common goal can and will have their voices heard loud and clear. If the airline was run right, the money exists right here, right now and it's being wasted throughout the system.

All of us have allowed this to happen and now all of us must rise up and in the words of Nancy Reagan, "JUST SAY NO!"

Bob,

If memory serves me (which it always does), I did post a few years back while U was in BK that it was only a matter of time before the customer was next to give concessions, and that U could only take so much cost out of the employees. Motto in Corporate America is "greed is good", and U management eats, drinks and breathes that ideology. You being a frequent loyal flyer, well, the chickens have come home to roost.

Welcome to the world inside U.

 

[nycbusdriver]

The ATC strike you refer to....wasn't that an ILLEGAL walkout?

Would you rather it have been "back to the dark ages"?

That's was a very real possibility with the push of a button from Russia and the US. The realtions he built with Gorbachev were nothing short of remarkable.

You say he's union unfriendly..ok, fine. What about the reduction of the taxes for everyone? He signed into law numerous tax bils that helped America grow as a whole. The highest bracket is no longer 70% that it was before he took office. It fell to 28%. The economy throughout his term boomed without the high rate of inflation that occured throughout the 70s.

So, what exactly are you referring to when you say "back to the 1880's" because frankly, the 1980's was by all accounts good for America.

Reagan ran successfully for two terms based on the mantra of smaller government. During his eight years, he oversaw the largest expansion of the federal government in history. He pledged to eliminate several cabinet level bureaucracies; he eliminated NONE and added one.

He ran the federal deficite and debt level to unprecedented (up until THAT time) highs.

Anyone can give the illusion of prosperity given a large enough credit line. This is effectively what Reagan did to our economy. This generation is reaping the short-term rewards; our children and grandchildren will be stuck with the debt that is unmanageable. Much of our generation may worship Reagan as a great president. But when the chickens finally come home to roost (and they will,) Reagan will be vilified by our children and grandchildren as one of the worst leaders to ever come down the pike.

(He will not be THE worst, though. We are living through that mess right now. Only our current moron-in-chief has managed to outspend Happy-Pockets Reagan, and will thereby take the title of WORST ever.)

 

[allstrike]

Not only does this make you think,it also puts a new meaning to the phraze the fix is in.
Everyone should see this clip.

Set up, like a bowling pin.Knocked down,again and agin...You just keep trucking on and onnnnnnn.

 

[diogenes]

PineyBob,

US took advantage of the loyalty of hardworking employees who had already made significant sacrifices. Every outsourced station I know about kept their metrics up to the day they walked out.

On the one hand, very professional. On the other, played right into the Crellin/Glass/Siegel/Parker scenario (anybody who thinks US/AW wasn't playing footsies prior to BK has no business walking about in the grown-up world unattended).

They will certainly take advantage of your loyalty. I want US to succeed because I have many friends counting on them for a job, but if you can find alternative transport, I'd recommend you do so. Only the exit of premium passengers en masse has a chance of getting their attention, and I wouldn't bet the farm on that. The US arrogance I remember for the past two decades appears to continue unchanged.

We are seeing too many corporations overcome by insatiable greed. The CostCo's and Southwest Airlines are fewer and further between. The establishment is hoping they can BS us into holding still for the shearing with their rhetoric.

Folks are catching on. And I always bet on folks. Regular folks won WWII. Regular folks brought about civil rights. Regular folks were the first to fight back on 9/11, and regular folks ran into those burning buildings to save others. We'll win this time, too, sooner or later.

Not our chickenhawk, pissant leadership, whether in government or on executive row.

 

[Hawkhunter]

PineyBob,

US took advantage of the loyalty of hardworking employees who had already made significant sacrifices. Every outsourced station I know about kept their metrics up to the day they walked out.

On the one hand, very professional. On the other, played right into the Crellin/Glass/Siegel/Parker scenario (anybody who thinks US/AW wasn't playing footsies prior to BK has no business walking about in the grown-up world unattended).

They will certainly take advantage of your loyalty. I want US to succeed because I have many friends counting on them for a job, but if you can find alternative transport, I'd recommend you do so. Only the exit of premium passengers en masse has a chance of getting their attention, and I wouldn't bet the farm on that. The US arrogance I remember for the past two decades appears to continue unchanged.

We are seeing too many corporations overcome by insatiable greed. The CostCo's and Southwest Airlines are fewer and further between. The establishment is hoping they can BS us into holding still for the shearing with their rhetoric.

Folks are catching on. And I always bet on folks. Regular folks won WWII. Regular folks brought about civil rights. Regular folks were the first to fight back on 9/11, and regular folks ran into those burning buildings to save others. We'll win this time, too, sooner or later.

Not our chickenhawk, pissant leadership, whether in government or on executive row.

Very well said!

 

[diogenes]

Thank you.