Management Screw ups.........tell me!

[strikeforce]

Please tell me real stories about money losing ideas, decisions, and plans initiated by AA management since 2003?
No names, Please!

I'll start it off......The No Check check.

No fuel sumping, hydraulic system checks....no nothing! Great plan. What did that plan cost AA? Anybody?

 

[jimntx]

I love it when the company goes on and on about 60% of our revenue comes from 20% of our passengers (meaning First Class passengers, of course). Then they have the nerve to offer them meals such as BBQ Chicken pizza. I can not think of anything nastier than barbecued chicken (with an OK BBQ sauce--a little sweet for my taste) drowned in mozzarella cheese!

Or, when you board a S80 and 4E and 4F are completely covered with a cobweb of duct tape with a hand-lettered sign that says "Do Not Use." Does that say world-class airline, or what?

I charge senior executives with this one.

 

[Frank Szabo]

If one can't do any given job, one soupervises, manages or teaches. This saying has been known for years - American Airlines and many other large businesses are proof-of-concept.

A small company doesn't have the intricate accounting system of a larger company to hide the screw ups and their misdeeds as does a large company.

 

[FWAAA]

Huge management failure:

Waiting until March, 2007 to accelerate new 738 deliveries. By then, fuel price increases had already sapped AA of billions of dollars from 2004 to 2007. Average price in 2005 was $1.72/gal, $2.00/gal in 2006 and $2.12/gal in 2007. Accelerating those orders in 2004 or early 2005 would have resulted in fuel savings of hundreds of millions of dollars by now (not to mention the maintenance savings from earlier parking of MD-80s).

Once the concessions were in place, and revenue began to rebound, the deferred deliveries should have been accelerated quickly. Instead, management waited far too long, needlessly enriching the oil companies.

 

[Rogallo]

Huge management failure:

Waiting until March, 2007 to accelerate new 738 deliveries. By then, fuel price increases had already sapped AA of billions of dollars from 2004 to 2007. Average price in 2005 was $1.72/gal, $2.00/gal in 2006 and $2.12/gal in 2007. Accelerating those orders in 2004 or early 2005 would have resulted in fuel savings of hundreds of millions of dollars by now (not to mention the maintenance savings from earlier parking of MD-80s).

Once the concessions were in place, and revenue began to rebound, the deferred deliveries should have been accelerated quickly. Instead, management waited far too long, needlessly enriching the oil companies.

And how high are fuel prices predicted to go this time?

 

[Frank Szabo]

And how high are fuel prices predicted to go this time?

You're not getting the entire picture, Rogallo - how much money is wasted/spent is immaterial - what matters most to the Centrepork infestation is that money isn't going to the workers - that is of prime importance and all that matters.

Were we to get an equitable contract, other airlines would be screaming for AMR's collective head as they'd eventually have to shell out for their workers also. Delta (being non-union in their mekanik department) would really be pissed at AMR.

 

[eolesen]

And how high are fuel prices predicted to go this time?

Look at the bright side -- the MD80's are mostly depreciated and AA can shrink the airline by 20% overnight with little to no aircraft ownership expense.

Had AA replaced them two years earlier, parking the aircraft would be an expensive proposition...

 

[737823]

-Not serving lucrative international destinations like Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, and Tel Aviv
-Not providing a competitive international first class-let alone international business class product
-Keeping MD-80s and 767-200 on borrowed time rather than begin fleet renewal in early 2000s

Not a big thing, but I was at ORD yesterday and the H/K Admirals Club has several Eames Lounge chairs in an exposed area directly beside desk and shower area that rarely get used.


Josh

 

[strikeforce]

Please tell me real stories about money losing ideas, decisions, and plans initiated by AA management since 2003?
No names, Please!

I'll start it off......The No Check check.

No fuel sumping, hydraulic system checks....no nothing! Great plan. What did that plan cost AA? Anybody?

here's a good one......Parts! how often are parts AOG'd in. Lost revenue because planes are sitting longer waiting on everyday parts!

 

[FWAAA]

Somene sent me this - turns out the APFA agrees with me:

Retaining Fuel Inefficient MD-80s
By retaining its huge fleet of MD-80s for as long as it has and not replacing them more rapidly with the far
more fuel-efficient 737-800s, management increased American’s fuel bill by approximately $1.8 billion over the
six-year period from 2004 through 2009.

http://www.apfa.org/images/negotiations/white_paper.pdf

A lot of hindsight in this alleged "failure," of course. Had oil risen to $50/bbl and stayed there, the fuel savings would have been much less. Not sure I'd argue that the increased fuel bill is $1.8 billion but nice to see the FAs recognize that new 738s are not a waste of money but are instead a great way to burn less fuel and cut costs.

 

[jimntx]

here's a good one......Parts! how often are parts AOG'd in. Lost revenue because planes are sitting longer waiting on everyday parts!

AMEN! Can I have an AMEN from the choir? I was doing a short STL-DCA-STL turn one day that ended up lasting over 8 hours because we sat at DCA waiting for a part to be flown in on Eagle from LGA. According to the captain, this is a part that goes out often on the MD-80s--IIRC something like a starter motor. However, the company's new, improved, Borax-strengthened Parts Inventory Management program on the computer had told them to remove this part from inventory at DCA because one had not been used in the last 90 days.

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

Lets not forget the more room throught out coach, the TWA purchase, and there was one more management brainstorm but just cant remember it right now.

 

[damajagua]

No disrespect to any of the TWA employees but buying TWA was by far the worst screw up AA ever done. The only thing AA inherited from TWA was more debt and years of litigation. If anyone has any doubt just look at how many flights
we have in St Louis today. There are many cities around the country with the same amount of flights and no airline purchase was necessary.

 

[telebender1956]

TULE- Hangar 1/ Dock 1 A/ B-737 O/H -L/C Line We were having problems with cockpit window delamination with EVERY B737 L/C that came to the dock. One set of cockpit windows was requested to keep in the Local Stores for immediate issue as needed. This request was rejected by management and as a result it turned SEVERAL of our 3 day L/C checks into 4 day checks because we had to AOG the necessary cockpit windows to TULE and WAIT 24 Hours to receive them.Keep in mind at that time there were 2 B737 Lines operating in the hangar.This is just one of a 1000 stupid decisions I have experienced with my 25 years at AA TULE.
Can someone explain why you would not stock parts that are needed on EVERY B737 that comes to the location where the Heavy Maintenance is performed? [Saving money in the parts inventory is not acceptable because the parts are needed on EVERY B737] What are the AOG costs every 3 days verses stocking the parts in-house and how much revenue is lost with the Aircraft sitting in the hangar an extra day?

 

[telebender1956]

The biggest screw-up of all was FORCING Robert Crandall into early retirement and letting Don Carty take over this airline. Then the next big mistake was the unions acting like heros for ousting Don Carty and then allowing management [THE BOD] to place Gerard Arpey as CEO. He was the CFO and had to know about and was also an assumed party to the big bonuses awaiting the top management after the Concessions of 2003.