gilbertguy,
Fair response. But what makes you think that Siegel isn't being truthful with you? For obvious SEC reasons, senior officers cannot always tell employees the details of things that are being analyzed and planned. I don't think that the average employee quite understands that.
However, that said, I believe Siegel is doing everything he can to try to preserve U's future and prosperity, either as an independent (highly unlikely in my view), or aligned with a larger, network carrier that could ultimately lead to a full-on merger. But he has very few assets with which to leverage in U's favor. And the longer the industry revenue situation worsens, as well as the geo-political situation, the more U's future is in doubt. All that does is put additional pressure on Siegel to find more cuts. Clearly, that's not an easy task. Going back to already whipped employee groups should be the absolute last resort before shutting down in my view. You simply cannot keep going to that well and expect your people to keep delivering top-quality, safe, and reliable service every day. But, what are the choices? Vendors and suppliers are just like employees. They're only willing to give so much. So, how much room does Siegel have left to work with in those areas? Hard to say. But you have to figure there is a limit to how far these people will bend before they say enough. So, U's options are limited. Even if the revenue picture doesn't improve, it at least needs to stabilize and not worsen. Ultimately it's hard to search for the magic bullet recovery when you're in the midst of bankruptcy struggling for your very survival.