Merger Is Announced./ Parker Running Things

[NAPAUS]

AND LENDVAY and Geoff from Inlfight!!!

CRELLIN,GLASS AND PALADOONI

[post="271633"][/post]​

B) B)

 

[EyeInTheSky]

I am going to share a bit more with you folks to try and show what kind of people we at HP have been priviledged to deal with once we managed to get Bill Franke out the door.

Doug Parker took over as President and CEO of America West Airlines on 9/1/2001. The first thing he was actively working on was to finalize a financing deal that was to be closed on 9/12/01. That deal fell apart on 9/11/01. America West now had a totally unexpected cash crunch coming because the deal that was to be signed on 9/12/01 was off the table. In the meantime, no one was flying and all airlines were bleeding out their cash.

Doug recognized the problem and went to the ATSB sooner, rather then later. The deal was rejected once or twice by the ATSB. Doug, in making the applications more attractive toward the ATSB, made one big point that employees have loved him for. He told the ATSB that he would not ask any of his hourly wage employees to take any paycut as a condition for the deal. He stressed that we were the lowest paid major airline and that to ask the employees to sacrafice even more at this time would be unfair. ATSB agreed and Doug has had good labor relations with all HP employees ever since.

The news today came shortly after 1:00 pm MST, while I was in my yearly inflight recurrent class. By 4:00 PM there was an employee Q&A at the Training Center being led by a corporate officer and at 7:00 pm tonight Doug Parker did live presentation and Q&A sessions for employees only that was webcast on our restricted employee site.

What is my point? IMO Doug Parker is a people person. His background is in finance, but he is down-to-earth guy who will spend time with you and make you feel good about the company and yourself. I hope the U folks get to meet him and give him a chance to get most of your past angst behind you.

It's now 12:30 am and I fly in 12 hours, so it is time to get to bed. U employees should be feeling very good about now. It will take a bit longer for the HP employees to feel good about life, but I can see it happening.

Best wishes....

[post="271344"][/post]​

Thanks hp_fa. It truly could end up being a very good thing for all. Time will tell. Have a good trip!

Eye

 

[nycbusdriver]

I am going to share a bit more with you folks to try and show what kind of people we at HP have been priviledged to deal with once we managed to get Bill Franke out the door....

[post="271344"][/post]​

Thank you, hp_fa, for your insight. I have always felt, and said on this board, that the only way I could feel good about an HP/US merger would be if Doug Parker ran the show and the dimwits in USAirways' CCY headquarters were unceremoniously booted out the door on their kiesters. I also said I would rather see USAirways liquidate than let CCY dimwits take over HP and ruin yet another airline. Words are not adequate to express my joy at the prospects of working for "Doug." It has been 18 years (1987, when the PI/US merger was announced) since I've been privileged to work for a boss who both knew how to operate an airline AND desired to do so.

I realize it will take the wisdom of Solomon to work out the seniority issues. I don't think that the majority of USAirways employees feel they deserve any windfall over this. As a group, I think we just want to close ranks with the HP employees and kick Luv's butt back to Dallas.

 

[usair_begins_with_u]

Looks like the honeymoon is over for DoUgIe.

 

[midnightmech]

Funny to read how we felt when all this began......my how the worm has turned...LMAO