Gordo ah again

[Taipan]

United Airlines, America West Set for Bankruptcy, FTD Reports
By Lois Jones
Washington, Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- UAL Corp.''s United Airlines Inc., the No. 2 airline, and America West Airlines Inc., a unit of American West Holdings Corp., will be the next U.S. carriers to go bankrupt, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing Continental Airlines Inc. Chief Executive Gordon Bethune.
``We''ll see at least two more bankruptcies, one in Chicago and one in Phoenix,'''' the paper reported Bethune as saying. ``United will keel over pretty fast.''''
Continental, the fifth-largest airline, is ``unlikely'''' to make a profit this year even as it reins in expansion, the paper said.
U.S. airlines have lost $9.7 billion in the year since the Sept. 11 attacks and losses are forecast to exceed $5 billion this year as air travel and fares fall. US Airways Group Inc., the seventh-largest U.S. carrier, sought bankruptcy protection last month and United Airlines has said it may be next.
(Financial Times Deutschland, 9-24, p. 44)

 

[Diesel8]

And that is why jetBlue has a quote on the wall from Gordon aka The Mouth.

Cannot remember the full quote, but he does call us ragweed smokers.

Works wonders for the fighting spirit, so by all means Gordo, keep it up!

 

[UnitedChicago]

Nothin will please me more than to prove this jack ass wrong.

 

[UAL777flyer]

Ya know, aside from my many obvious reasons for wanting UA to turn things around and prosper again, I'd also like to do it, if for no other reason than to shut that windbag up. Talk about open mouth, insert shoe store!

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Bethune is a leader. The troops may not always agree with the leader, but they will follow a guy with brass ones.

Many of you probably scorned Bob Crandall too.

Wasn't Tilton at Texaco when they filed Chap 11 to as a result of that Getty Oil fiasco? He seems to be a good guy with the numbers.

Go ahead and keep arguing about numbers and blame. The fat lady --- she's a hummin.......

 

[UnitedChicago]

Hey whatkindoffreshhell:

Yes...I agree that Bethune is a leader. But quite frankly, I don't care what his opinion is of United or America West.

Tilton was at Texaco during the ch11 filing. However, he wasn't running the company and wasn't involved in the decision making that lead to the lawsuit, etc.

Bethune just needs to shut his mouth. He's not helping anyone. And quite frankly, I don't think his pearls of wisom are very intelligent. When Crandall would open his mouth, it was at least backed with intelligence and strategic intuition.

What has Bethune ever said that was so intuitive? Duh...yes United is at risk for ch11.

And he also predicts the demise of JetBlue...because look at the track record of all start-up airlines since deregulation. Real smart there Gordo. How about you look at the top notch management that JetBlue has. Haven't they made a profit since commencing ops?

Bethune got lucky when he basically took the helm after Brennen righted the ship at CO. I can't wait until he's actually tested. How complicated is it to run CO? I am quite thankful that he turned down offers from UA as CEO.

 

[UAL777flyer]

All that glitters in Houston, isn't gold. CO has their own issues that will become readily apparent going forward. I don't doubt Gordon's leadership skills. I read his book. I give him kudos for what he's done at CO. But he didn't do it alone. He installed a very competent management team to help. And Greg Brenneman was the brains behind much of that turnaround effort, even though Gordon took the credit.

He becomes more and more like Mike Boyd every time he opens his mouth. He's the King of the Soundbyte! Sometimes, he and his company would be better served if he just kept his mouth shut.

 

[300guy]

When I worked for Continental, I personally met Gordon Bethune. He says he is a people person, but you would have never known it by the way he treated me. UAL777flyer, I agree with you 100%, I hope he has to eat his words. WIth a mouth as big as his, I'm sure I could add my size 13 in there. I will be smiling from ear to ear.

 

[JFK Fleet Service]

[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE]
[P][BR]----------------[/P]
[P][BR]UnitedChicago wrote:[/P]
[P] I can't wait until he's actually tested. [/P]
[P]----------------[/P]
[P]He is being tested and by the look of things, he's feeling the pressure.[/P]
[P] [/P][/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P][/P]

 

[UnitedChicago]

Anyone could have looked at the books and predicted UA's demise.

I was never much of a Goodwin fan because he was such an insider. Remember the old president John Edwardson? Do you think he would have wasted time and money going after US and launching Avolar?

As I recall the unions vetoed Edwardson because he was too confrontational.

Edwardson is having the last laugh - he's at CDW (Computer Discount Warehouse) and doing a great job. Not to mention he holds millions of dollars worth of CDW stock.

Okay...sorry...I'm being too negative and I'm the first the complain about crying over spilled milk .

I'm anxiously awaiting news on the union's plan.

 

[avek00]

Never mind Bethune. A year ago, UAL's own CEO, Jim Goodwin, said that UAL will perish by the end of 2002 if the company did not reduce its cost structure. And sure enough, one year later, it's likely that UAL version 1.0 is on its way out. Everyone claimed that Goodwin was ineffectual, but apparently, his prediction was right on the mark...

 

[N297UX]

oh Gordon is at it again *sigh*.

He's doing what he can to keep morale high at Continental while not letting people know about CO's own issues. Not quite a Wag the Dog episode, but I hear things aren't going so great for Continental, just as the rest of the industry.

In regards to JetBlue, there are some flaws in it's plan.... the company is growing a bit fast, while profitable, will lead up to some major growing pains. David probably can keep things together, but don't be shocked to hear about some problems with the B6 model. The company is already realizing that the LGB hub probably won't be as profitable as they once thought.... And the A320 fleet are going through growing pains as they did at UA and NW... at one point my friends who are NW mechanics used to cuss the second an A320 came into their hangar for fixing. They'd fix one thing, and turn around and have to fix another. Same issues w/ HP.... people used to avoid flying on ANY America West Airbus for the longest times due to some reliability issues....

btw, when is JetBlue going to fix the IFE problems on the SJU flights... you loose TVs about an hour outside of JFK.... probably wouldn't hurt to have some sort of conventional movie of sorts to keep pax in their seats and occupied!

Back to United, if it files Chap 11, so be it. We probably can kiss some planes, employees, and stations good bye. But if Chap 11 does happen, lets hope UAL can come out stronger than before....

-n

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Was it not Gordo who was the first after 911 to say CO will cut 10,000 jobs? And everyone gasped?

BTW -- all this waiting for the union coalition plan is utter nonsense. Those goofballs who collect your union dues are just wasting time, hoping for a lightning bolt out of the blue. Talk about mismanagement! There are posters here who will attempt to twist all sorts of cost numbers, but does anyone have a new thought when it comes to enhancing revenue??

Let's hear it.

 

[Taipan]

Gordo

 

[UAL777flyer]

Avek,

Goodwin was ineffectual. While his prediction that UA may perish in 2002 may have been accurate considering the circumstances, he lacked the leadership abilities to do anything about it. He was in over his head and didn't have a clue how to LEAD the employees of this company. And it consistently showed. Anyone can throw out sound bytes about what may or may not happen to their company. But it's something different when you recognize there's a problem and then do something about it. Therein lies the difference between true leaders and leaders-by-title-only like Goodwin.