WorldTraveler
Corn Field
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2003
- Messages
- 21,709
- Reaction score
- 10,662
If it hasn't become apparent to anyone who reads, I do not post on these boards in order to develop a list of people I can go out with on Friday night. I am well aware that these boards are predominantly read by airline employees. I am also aware that I tend to have beliefs that are more akin to management in most businesses instead of labor. Whether the people who read this want to admit it, I do know what I am talking about and the evidence of it is perfectly obvious and will become even more obvious as this all plays out.
I am fully aware and in agreement that the best companies to work for are the companies where the employees and management are working toward the same goal. Delta for years was a company that was run that way. DL never had the revenue advantage other airlines had but it had an incredibly loyal workforce that understood management's objectives and made them their own - to the betterment of all involved. The reason Delta is largely nonunion is because DL people have long understood that they have it as good or better than employees at other airlines but without labor unions. DL pilots had it better than their counterparts because they worked with management rather than against it as has been the longstanding relationship at many US airlines.
DALPA is a particularly compelling case in the failure of labor to work with management. For years, DL pilots were completely onboard with management in achieving mutual objectives. I fully understand that the post Pan Am period changed that. But the reality was that for the first time DL was in deep trouble. Instead of helping the company as they had for years, an adversarial relationship developed and has only escalated since. Regardless of who was at fault, the DL line pilots are going to pay the price - that's just the way it works in business. Delta writes the paychecks, not ALPA. If the pilots aren't smart enough to realize that ALPA's mission is to protect a rapidly diminishing unionized labor force in the US at the expense of the health of a company, then those line pilots are the ones who will suffer.
I have never stated that I think Leo Mullin and his group of mgmt was good for DL but don't you dare forget that DL was the most profitable airline in the world in 1999 under his leadership. I don't think Leo did anything positive to get DL to that point; instead he got used to the idea that DL could sustain limitless cost increases and survive. Everyone at DL got rich because of that inability to manage costs, BUT THE DL PILOTS GOT THE RICHEST CONTRACT IN THE INDUSTRY UNDER LEO. When the bottom fell out and management (Leo and others) recognized they had to cut costs to save the company, ALPA took the position to protect AFL-CIO and ALPA's interest at the expense of DL's long-term viability, completely at odds with the DL-ALPA relationship of working together that had existed for years. Leo first asked ALPA for $500 million in concessions but ALPA took the stance that they would drain DL of every available dollar before they helped. Michele Burns used DL's well above average credit rating to keep borrowing money because Leo and his group didn't want to use the threat of the nuclear option AA used to get concessions out of DL employees. The damage got worse and by the time DALPA "agreed" to help as DL was on the steps of bankruptcy 18 months ago, it was too late. Fuel skyrocketed and DL had no room to recover. And we are now here. If DALPA had agreed to that first $500M request and were joined by DL non-contract employees with wage cuts and benefit cuts, DL could have saved $1B four years ago. It is doubtful DL would be in bankruptcy if that had happened and it is doubtful DL pilots would be facing the loss of their pensions. Who is to blame for this turn of events? DALPA alone and you can bet DL management is dead set to make sure DL pilots never enjoy the position of privilege they once had but abdicated because they broke the long-standing relationship of cooperation that existed between management and the pilots union. And you can also bet that DL is going to show its non-pilot personnel how much worse things are BECAUSE the pilots are represented by a union lest those flight attendants, mechanics, and customer service personnel EVER again entertain the idea of unionizing.
And DL pilots cannot soley blame management for the mistakes at DL. DL pilots and all DL employees have had access to the Boardroom for 10 years now (part of contract 1996). Few companies in the world allow their employees into the boardroom, even on a non-voting basis. Yet no employee groups presented to the board concerns about he direction the company was going or its dependence on the domestic market, esp. to Florida. They couldn't question the strategy because it made DL the MOST PROFITABLE AIRLINE IN THE WORLD. Yes, 2000 marked the turning point and DL was probably slower than they should have been to dramatically change strategies but they were well aware of the problem. DFW was in a downsizing mode for years; the MCO and FRA hubs were pulled down. No other airline has required a change in strategy as dramatically as DL's but they are doing it and that is why they will survive. Very few companies recognize, let alone execute the kind of turnaround that needs to take place at Delta. DL's business plan today is built on $1B in revenue improvements based on the strategy change.
If DL had gained $1B in labor cost cuts 4 years ago and if they had begun their strategy change 4 years ago, DL would be $2B per year better off than they are today. Either one of those changes would have been enough to have kept DL out of bankruptcy but the other one had to come eventually. Both components are necessary. Restructuring debt and leases are a bonus for being in bankruptcy but DL could have survived without them, just like AA.
as for you NHBB,
I grow tired of your endless ranting about the benefits of labor unions. DL people are smarter than that. Your threats that DL's nonpilot personnel will take bigger cuts is merely a threat to scare them and you know it. CH. 12 understands the role labor should play. DL will get the cost cuts they need from the pilots and terminating the pilot pension plan will make sure any shortfall they might achieve in negotiations is met.
Whether you or anyone else likes what I write is inconsequential. Bad news is hard to take but that is the story for the moment. That is not a pro-management or labor-bashing position. That is reality. History will look back on this moment and show that I had a pretty good grasp of what is going on. Few visionaries are respected at the time they speak.
I am fully aware and in agreement that the best companies to work for are the companies where the employees and management are working toward the same goal. Delta for years was a company that was run that way. DL never had the revenue advantage other airlines had but it had an incredibly loyal workforce that understood management's objectives and made them their own - to the betterment of all involved. The reason Delta is largely nonunion is because DL people have long understood that they have it as good or better than employees at other airlines but without labor unions. DL pilots had it better than their counterparts because they worked with management rather than against it as has been the longstanding relationship at many US airlines.
DALPA is a particularly compelling case in the failure of labor to work with management. For years, DL pilots were completely onboard with management in achieving mutual objectives. I fully understand that the post Pan Am period changed that. But the reality was that for the first time DL was in deep trouble. Instead of helping the company as they had for years, an adversarial relationship developed and has only escalated since. Regardless of who was at fault, the DL line pilots are going to pay the price - that's just the way it works in business. Delta writes the paychecks, not ALPA. If the pilots aren't smart enough to realize that ALPA's mission is to protect a rapidly diminishing unionized labor force in the US at the expense of the health of a company, then those line pilots are the ones who will suffer.
I have never stated that I think Leo Mullin and his group of mgmt was good for DL but don't you dare forget that DL was the most profitable airline in the world in 1999 under his leadership. I don't think Leo did anything positive to get DL to that point; instead he got used to the idea that DL could sustain limitless cost increases and survive. Everyone at DL got rich because of that inability to manage costs, BUT THE DL PILOTS GOT THE RICHEST CONTRACT IN THE INDUSTRY UNDER LEO. When the bottom fell out and management (Leo and others) recognized they had to cut costs to save the company, ALPA took the position to protect AFL-CIO and ALPA's interest at the expense of DL's long-term viability, completely at odds with the DL-ALPA relationship of working together that had existed for years. Leo first asked ALPA for $500 million in concessions but ALPA took the stance that they would drain DL of every available dollar before they helped. Michele Burns used DL's well above average credit rating to keep borrowing money because Leo and his group didn't want to use the threat of the nuclear option AA used to get concessions out of DL employees. The damage got worse and by the time DALPA "agreed" to help as DL was on the steps of bankruptcy 18 months ago, it was too late. Fuel skyrocketed and DL had no room to recover. And we are now here. If DALPA had agreed to that first $500M request and were joined by DL non-contract employees with wage cuts and benefit cuts, DL could have saved $1B four years ago. It is doubtful DL would be in bankruptcy if that had happened and it is doubtful DL pilots would be facing the loss of their pensions. Who is to blame for this turn of events? DALPA alone and you can bet DL management is dead set to make sure DL pilots never enjoy the position of privilege they once had but abdicated because they broke the long-standing relationship of cooperation that existed between management and the pilots union. And you can also bet that DL is going to show its non-pilot personnel how much worse things are BECAUSE the pilots are represented by a union lest those flight attendants, mechanics, and customer service personnel EVER again entertain the idea of unionizing.
And DL pilots cannot soley blame management for the mistakes at DL. DL pilots and all DL employees have had access to the Boardroom for 10 years now (part of contract 1996). Few companies in the world allow their employees into the boardroom, even on a non-voting basis. Yet no employee groups presented to the board concerns about he direction the company was going or its dependence on the domestic market, esp. to Florida. They couldn't question the strategy because it made DL the MOST PROFITABLE AIRLINE IN THE WORLD. Yes, 2000 marked the turning point and DL was probably slower than they should have been to dramatically change strategies but they were well aware of the problem. DFW was in a downsizing mode for years; the MCO and FRA hubs were pulled down. No other airline has required a change in strategy as dramatically as DL's but they are doing it and that is why they will survive. Very few companies recognize, let alone execute the kind of turnaround that needs to take place at Delta. DL's business plan today is built on $1B in revenue improvements based on the strategy change.
If DL had gained $1B in labor cost cuts 4 years ago and if they had begun their strategy change 4 years ago, DL would be $2B per year better off than they are today. Either one of those changes would have been enough to have kept DL out of bankruptcy but the other one had to come eventually. Both components are necessary. Restructuring debt and leases are a bonus for being in bankruptcy but DL could have survived without them, just like AA.
as for you NHBB,
I grow tired of your endless ranting about the benefits of labor unions. DL people are smarter than that. Your threats that DL's nonpilot personnel will take bigger cuts is merely a threat to scare them and you know it. CH. 12 understands the role labor should play. DL will get the cost cuts they need from the pilots and terminating the pilot pension plan will make sure any shortfall they might achieve in negotiations is met.
Whether you or anyone else likes what I write is inconsequential. Bad news is hard to take but that is the story for the moment. That is not a pro-management or labor-bashing position. That is reality. History will look back on this moment and show that I had a pretty good grasp of what is going on. Few visionaries are respected at the time they speak.
