American Airlines' dangerous flight path of management missteps

[JFK Fleet Service]

Interesting reading.

But somehow, it is the fault of labor isn't it?

http://www.examiner.com/article/american-airlines-pattern-of-executive-missteps-and-indiscretions

 

[FWAAA]

Interesting reading.

But somehow, it is the fault of labor isn't it?

http://www.examiner....d-indiscretions

No, it's not the "fault" of labor that TW, CO, US, UA, DL and NW filed for Ch 11 (some of them multiple times) to slash wages and work rules far below even the levels established by the 2003 concessions. That "fault" is entirely management's doing.

Wonder why the delusional fired flight attendant (who wrote the "article" linked above) didn't mention that?

 

[eolesen]

Might as well title it "The Airing of Perpetual Grievances", and not surprisingly, it completely ignores management's successes over the same timeframe he's targeting...

• LHR purchase from TW
• LatAm purchase from Eastern
• AAdvantage (still the largest program from what I recall)
• Monetizing the investment in Sabre (AA earned far more than UA, NW, or DL did with Galileo or Worldspan)
• Introduction of ticket change fees (integral to the Value Plan he mocks, and a huge revenue generator that almost everyone else matched)
• defeating CO and NW's claims of predatory pricing
• killing off Vanguard, Legend, and several other startups
• rationalizing fare levels and corporate discounts classes (another part of the Value Plan that still exists)
• investment in Orbitz
• avoiding use of the ATSB
• first major airline willing to charge for first checked bag (huge revenue generator, and almost everyone else followed suit)
• AA.Com (lots of innovations in ecommerce that most of you never see because you don't buy tickets...)

Seriously, going back to 1991 for some of his grievances is a bit petty. There's lots management has done wrong over the years, but quite a bit they've gotten right.

AA as an airline survived longer than anyone else before filing for bankruptcy. Southwest still has another 40 years to go before they can beat AA's record. Might not be seen as an accomplishment by many, but when you look at other industries which have gone thru as much radical change as the airlines have, it's a record few companies can match.

The only two other companies I can think of which have been around longer without filing for bankruptcy or merging for survival are Ford and Alaska Airlines...

 

[Frank Szabo]

Might as well title it "The Airing of Perpetual Grievances", and not surprisingly, it completely ignores management's successes over the same timeframe he's targeting...

• LHR purchase from TW
• LatAm purchase from Eastern
• AAdvantage (still the largest program from what I recall)
• Monetizing the investment in Sabre (AA earned far more than UA, NW, or DL did with Galileo or Worldspan)
• Introduction of ticket change fees (integral to the Value Plan he mocks, and a huge revenue generator that almost everyone else matched)
• defeating CO and NW's claims of predatory pricing
• killing off Vanguard, Legend, and several other startups
• rationalizing fare levels and corporate discounts classes (another part of the Value Plan that still exists)
• investment in Orbitz
• avoiding use of the ATSB
• first major airline willing to charge for first checked bag (huge revenue generator, and almost everyone else followed suit)
• AA.Com (lots of innovations in ecommerce that most of you never see because you don't buy tickets...)

Seriously, going back to 1991 for some of his grievances is a bit petty. There's lots management has done wrong over the years, but quite a bit they've gotten right.

AA as an airline survived longer than anyone else before filing for bankruptcy. Southwest still has another 40 years to go before they can beat AA's record. Might not be seen as an accomplishment by many, but when you look at other industries which have gone thru as much radical change as the airlines have, it's a record few companies can match.

The only two other companies I can think of which have been around longer without filing for bankruptcy or merging for survival are Ford and Alaska Airlines...

Enumerating all the things AA/AMR supposedly did correctly or incorrectly doesn't change the fact treating one's "greatest asset" as dirt, with the assistance of a bought and paid for "union" interested only in its own survival and financial well being, is not a good recipe for continuing a business, E - you should know that. You should also know there's no defense of those actions.

The well has been poisoned intentionally by the company and twu.

 

[eolesen]

Frank, if I thought there was a reasonable effort underway to oust the TWU, I'd buy the t-shirt. Get the cards, get an election, and you'll have my check.

 

[1AA]

Frank, if I thought there was a reasonable effort underway to oust the TWU, I'd buy the t-shirt. Get the cards, get an election, and you'll have my check.

There is. The Teamsters.

 

[Frank Szabo]

Frank, if I thought there was a reasonable effort underway to oust the TWU, I'd buy the t-shirt. Get the cards, get an election, and you'll have my check.

The company will never allow their "partners" to be tossed to the street - you know that. The Teamsters are involved due to the twu's need of diluting the amfa card collections and are probably doing so as a favor or repayment to the twu. Be assured, there will never be enough cards collected to file for an election, one way or another.

 

[eolesen]

Teamsters are more corrupt than the TWU... Oh well. Guess I'll go buy a few more taquitos at QuikTrip.

 

[jimntx]

E, company managements who do thing correctly are awarded with bonusses (EARNED), stock price increases, and stable, (at least) satisfied employee bases. They don't need you to enumerate old history. We (the American people) used to run the routes with wagon trains, but you know, times change.

We are not in the past. We are in this management-induced turmoil today. (And, you know as well as I that if there had not been those undeserved bonusses, the average AA employee would not have noticed much of anything being done at Centreport. Staying informed is not the long suit of most employees--particularly, flight attendants.)

It's like in politics when another one of the right-wing loony Republicans brings up the topic of easy or induced rape, and there is public outrage, some Republican will counter with Clinton's pecadillos. That was then. This is now.

 

[dfw gen]

yep you are right american has done some very innovative smart good things over the years without a doubt. unfortunitly there have not been very many good innovative ides in quite a while and in business you are only as good as your last "innovative scheme". that is the frustration with current managment. like their cost cutting or contracting out the company still refuses to manage itself on a local level. even if they contract out b checks and heavy maintenance they still do not manage what remains. the idea that we just throw bodies at it will not work anymore, they have to start managing what they have. they still refuse to do that, noone will make the hard decisions like making people do their job and correctly.

 

[AMFAinMIAMI]

The company will never allow their "partners" to be tossed to the street - you know that. The Teamsters are involved due to the twu's need of diluting the amfa card collections and are probably doing so as a favor or repayment to the twu. Be assured, there will never be enough cards collected to file for an election, one way or another.

If the empoyees of AA are not ready to rid themselves of the TWU at this time then what ever AA and the TWU do, they deserve..

Just how much are you going to take before you standup and say we have had enough, and we are NOT Going to take it NO MORE.

Sign a AMFA card, lets send the TWU and AA a message.