North by Northwest
Veteran
http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_ge.jsp...i&date=20050121 Perhaps NWA should consider these comparisons when the BOD is considering the compensation of Sen. Mang., or the pay superiority that Ual provided it's employees for years compared to NWA. Furthermore, the $1.5 Billion wasted on the '98 strike would have come in handy during these difficult times. It is estimated that NWA could have settled ALL open contracts with it's employees for under $350 million at the time, thus perserving the good will of all employees after their sacrafice of the early '90's. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Mr. Wilson and Mr. Checchi (roughly $400-$500 million EACH) reaped from their $9 million dollar LBO is still fresh in many employees minds. I must not forget to mention the enormous "BONUS" Mr. Dasburg was rewarded after the employees agreed to huge paycuts in the early '90's. Industry comparisons work BOTH ways. Additionally, many cabin crew members remember well the FOUR YEARS it took before NWA settled a contract barely bringing them up to industry pay. We all know that there are huge economic issues facing EVERY carrier in todays airline industry. But we've been here before...and NWA's track record speaks volumes about it's present need for "industry labor rates" to be brought to NWA. Actions speaks louder than words (NWA's past labor relations speaks for it's self). My only question to NWA mang. would be: from a business point of view...how many times must one be burned before leaning the lesson needed to survive? Hopefully, we at NWA, can create a culture change that will allow us to fully trust each other and make the needed changes that will secure our futures long term. It would serve ALL major (what a dumb reference word "legacy") carriers well not just to pass the buck to (labor pay cuts) employees. Airline management MUST be held accountable for THEIR performance. Why is SW the ONLY carrier with a clearly successful FUEL HEDGING program? Fuel IS the largest cost in the grand scheme of things is it not? SW's current profitability is directly tied to their hugely efficient fuel hedging program...NOT their LCC labor costs. The money spent on demanding paycuts from labor could very well be spent on developing an effective fuel hedging program. Airline sen. management has ALWAYS governed and paid for poor management performance from the pockets of labor.