Piney Bob
Your thesis of driving costs out of a business is spot on, because if you don't, your competitor will. I'd like to share a little U background with you, and a smidgen of cost comparisons.
Agents were unrepresented at U until 1999. Most of the team currently in place, from station manager up to veep, was in place for a decade prior to that. Trust me, they assiduously wrung costs out, the highlight of which was freezing the DBRP and replacing it with 401k's. This coupled with wage stagnation, layoffs, reduction of vaction and abolition of sick leave, while the represented groups held their ground, and IMPROVED their contracts, paved the way for successful CWA and IAM organization drives.
The initial contracts contained ZERO featherbedding for agents. The 401k was not done away with or improved - it stayed as is. The PDO's (personal days off) were converted back to vacation and sick days, but the accrual was not improved. Wages were the parity plus one deal. In short, we stopped the bleeding, but didn't start the healing. And I'm proud to say, as a Southern, gun totin', truck driving, bourbon swillin', anti-union redneck, I put my job on the line to organize fleet service - U drove me to it.
The way this all worked out caused the animus you questioned in another post - it wasn't cricket for the same guy signing paychecks to increase one group's compensation, while decreasing another. Another example as to how agents fared vis a vis other work groups within U - they all viewed 'parity plus one' a concession. Agents got their first raise in five years with that formula.
Now to WN. Their senior fleet agents top out at $25. Our heyday was 21.33, now 19 and change, and heading south. They have a 401k, we had a 401k for 12 years. Health care about the same. Work rules? Everybody, including Dave says this is the deal. Here's where they're full of it. The CWA and IAM fleet contracts prescribe cross utilization in class II (small to medium sized)stations. Management NEVER schedules it! I've seen them pay overtime in fleet, rather than schedule an available CWA agent to do the work. That's in management's court -we're ready, willing and able. We clean, deice, airstart and perform the security checks - stuff we didn't do 10 years ago. I'd wager fleet has had as much or more responsibilities added to it's job description than any other represented group. Lastly, WN is 90 to 95% union - so it's not necessarily a bad thing.
So why does WN flourish? Three reasons;
1. Single fleet type - if everything else between U and WN were equal, this would be the winning edge.
2. Superior business plan - I think it's bad policy to bypass small and medium cities, but you can't blame WN for taking advantage of existing business and regulatory conditions. A sensible fare structure goes a long way, too.
3. Espirit de corp - WN stands behind it's employees, and not to bugger them. The creates a virtuous cycle.
Now as to the foregoing, who has the initiative - the boss or the grunts?
I strapped this airline on my back to carry it across the goal line. Look at our monthly DOT stats - that's us accomplishing that, not management. Coming from PI, we all worked that way, and along with a bunch of the old AL guys, are the main reason this airline has lasted this long. We were to stupid to give up or quit. These are the folks Dave wants to outsource.
That's where I'm coming from.