Arpey Steps Down?

[eolesen]

Mr. Arpey came from the airline industry, I am sure he has a plan. I believe the BOD has a plan also and so do the unions?

Correction, Buck. Arpey has spent his entire career at AA, aside from a couple summers spent throwing bags for DL.

So have most at least 70% of the senior executives. And maybe that's part of the issue -- AA needs new ideas, but there's also some risk in repeating things that have already been done and failed, or not even considered because the risks were so obvious to anyone who had been around airlines long enough.

 

[737823]

Correction, Buck. Arpey has spent his entire career at AA, aside from a couple summers spent throwing bags for DL.

So have most at least 70% of the senior executives. And maybe that's part of the issue -- AA needs new ideas, but there's also some risk in repeating things that have already been done and failed, or not even considered because the risks were so obvious to anyone who had been around airlines long enough.

You obviously know much about AMR than me, but AMR strikes me as a company that benefits from leadership with a strong working knowledge of the company and its operations. That's not to say outside talent could be instrumental in AA's restructuring but I assume keeping people from within the company or within the industry is better. Just my feeling, not backed by any experience or evidence.

Who knows, Alan Mullaly has done wonders for Ford Motor Co coming from Boeing.

Josh

 

[TWU informer]

Correction, Buck. Arpey has spent his entire career at AA, aside from a couple summers spent throwing bags for DL.

So have most at least 70% of the senior executives. And maybe that's part of the issue -- AA needs new ideas, but there's also some risk in repeating things that have already been done and failed, or not even considered because the risks were so obvious to anyone who had been around airlines long enough.

Wouldn't matter where they came from if the Consulting Firms have been the only source of potential new ideas.

The Man (Arpey) has none, and nether did the firms he hired to try to come up with something.

 

[FWAAA]

This is a topic where the goalposts move so quickly that I can't even tell where to look for them. Examples from the past decade:

Arpey is useless because he's a "numbers person" and not an "airline person" even though AA's been his only post-college employer.

Consultants are useless because they don't know anything about the airline business, even though I suspect plenty of consultants to airlines have, in fact, worked at airlines and the others probably have a good grasp of the issues on which the execs have asked for advice.

Management is useless because they merely spend money on useless consultants instead of "managing the business alone."

Crandall is the only useful airline exec and AA won't be properly managed until he comes out of retirement and retakes the helm.

Have I left out any?

 

[comatose]

This is a topic where the goalposts move so quickly that I can't even tell where to look for them. Examples from the past decade:

Arpey is useless because he's a "numbers person" and not an "airline person" even though AA's been his only post-college employer.

Consultants are useless because they don't know anything about the airline business, even though I suspect plenty of consultants to airlines have, in fact, worked at airlines and the others probably have a good grasp of the issues on which the execs have asked for advice.

Management is useless because they merely spend money on useless consultants instead of "managing the business alone."

Crandall is the only useful airline exec and AA won't be properly managed until he comes out of retirement and retakes the helm.

Have I left out any?

You forgot why lawyers are useless.

 

[TWU informer]

This is a topic where the goalposts move so quickly that I can't even tell where to look for them. Examples from the past decade:

Arpey is useless because he's a "numbers person" and not an "airline person" even though AA's been his only post-college employer.

Consultants are useless because they don't know anything about the airline business, even though I suspect plenty of consultants to airlines have, in fact, worked at airlines and the others probably have a good grasp of the issues on which the execs have asked for advice.

Management is useless because they merely spend money on useless consultants instead of "managing the business alone."

Crandall is the only useful airline exec and AA won't be properly managed until he comes out of retirement and retakes the helm.

Have I left out any?

You forgot how to measure if any of the above statements you just posted are true or not.

Everyone can have an opinion, but results don't lie.

 

[Barfbag]

This is a topic where the goalposts move so quickly that I can't even tell where to look for them. Examples from the past decade:

Arpey is useless because he's a "numbers person" and not an "airline person" even though AA's been his only post-college employer.

Consultants are useless because they don't know anything about the airline business, even though I suspect plenty of consultants to airlines have, in fact, worked at airlines and the others probably have a good grasp of the issues on which the execs have asked for advice.

Management is useless because they merely spend money on useless consultants instead of "managing the business alone."

Crandall is the only useful airline exec and AA won't be properly managed until he comes out of retirement and retakes the helm.

Have I left out any?

Yes;
the consumer who has no brand loyalty,
the internet that provides the consumer with comparative shopping,
the US laws that protect the consumer's pricing by allowing failed airlines to resurrect themselves and repackage themselves in bankruptcy to compete against struggling carriers like AMR.

Have I left out any?

 

[damajagua]

You forgot why lawyers are useless.

Actually the CEO of Delta and United are lawyer.

 

[Frank Szabo]

You forgot why lawyers are useless.

They aren't useless - when they're skydiving, they're called "skeet".

 

[WorldTraveler]

One of the trends that swept through the airline industry as it was restructuring post 9/11 is that most BODs and creditors wanted a different set of mgmt skills and asked for execs who, even if they have been in and out of the airline industry, have been in other industries as well.
That should be the role of the BOD - to provide cross-industry expertise but if you don't have execs who understand what works and doesn't work in other industries, they probably aren't going to show it in the airline industry which is plagued by perpetual bad ideas.
There is also something for pulling people even within the airline industry from carriers that do well - or even people who did well in their specific jobs even if their respective carrier did not.
Many execs in the industry have spent some time at AA but the days of AA cranking out industry leading execs have all but come to an end.
.
AA would do well to look for people from outside the industry as well as within the industry but in roles or airlines where they have succeeded.
.
Problem is right now that few execs are willing to come in to a company that is on the verge of bankruptcy because most senior leaders get thrown out by the creditors during restructuring... or if the company is taken over.
At this point, AA probably has the leadership team it will have thru to emergence or until the cutting part of a reorg is completed.
Rebuilding and emergence could fall under a new leadership group if it is apparent AA can successfully emerge on its own.

 

[FWAAA]

Actually the CEO of Delta and United are lawyer.

Herb at WN was also a lawyer. Looks like that's AA's problem: the CEO isn't a lawyer, yet the competition is run by lawyers. 😀

Here's an article advocating that CEOs be lawyers:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_50/b3912101_mz056.htm

 

[Frank Szabo]

deleted

 

[Buck]

This is a topic where the goalposts move so quickly that I can't even tell where to look for them. Examples from the past decade:

Arpey is useless because he's a "numbers person" and not an "airline person" even though AA's been his only post-college employer.

Consultants are useless because they don't know anything about the airline business, even though I suspect plenty of consultants to airlines have, in fact, worked at airlines and the others probably have a good grasp of the issues on which the execs have asked for advice.

Management is useless because they merely spend money on useless consultants instead of "managing the business alone."

Crandall is the only useful airline exec and AA won't be properly managed until he comes out of retirement and retakes the helm.

Have I left out any?

Yes Consultants, here at TUL our group just started with a Six Sigma program. I went to school last week to learn how to buld wheelbarrows and learn the process of getting them to a customer. The funny thing about these consultants over the years is that they always key on manufactuering. That might work in the support shops, I will leave that to them. However the hangars repair not manufactuer.

 

[eolesen]

You obviously know much about AMR than me, but AMR strikes me as a company that benefits from leadership with a strong working knowledge of the company and its operations. That's not to say outside talent could be instrumental in AA's restructuring but I assume keeping people from within the company or within the industry is better. Just my feeling, not backed by any experience or evidence.

I work as a consultant now, so my opinion won't be worth much to some. What we find works well is having a 50/50 split of insiders/outsiders. Insiders usually see things thru blinders but usually know where the landmines are; outsiders can see the forest thru the trees, but tend to step on the landmines...

 

[Buck]

I work as a consultant now, so my opinion won't be worth much to some. What we find works well is having a 50/50 split of insiders/outsiders. Insiders usually see things thru blinders but usually know where the landmines are; outsiders can see the forest thru the trees, but tend to step on the landmines...

My point was that we are looking at manufactuering in a repair enviroment. The mechanics just want to fix the airplanes. I am not knocking any one consultant team, it is the company over the past twenty some years that has hired team after team with little result.