Pilot's faith in United unshaken
In spite of layoffs, a strike, cuts in his pay and the company's bankruptcy filing, Capt. Jack Hareland remains fiercely loyal to United Airlines
By Greg Burns
Tribune senior correspondent
March 21, 2004
People say airplanes practically fly themselves these days, but Jack Hareland knows better.
The United Airlines captain knows that throttling back a little can make a takeoff safer. He knows that reading the clouds and selecting the right altitude can keep the flight running smoothly.
"It's satisfying to put all the pieces together," the Marine Corps veteran said.
If only he could control the course of his airline with the same authority as the Boeing 777s he commands.
The strain of bankruptcy has taken a toll on UAL Corp.'s depleted workforce, but it also has left a steely resolve in at least some of the survivors.
A year ago, with United in danger of going out of business, longtime employees such as Hareland poured their energy into improving its operating performance, even as they took pay cuts, bid farewell to laid-off colleagues and, as in Hareland's case, put their homes on the market.
A year later, the 54-year-old Hareland still has worries--the future of his pension tops the list--but he's determined not to let them show. That means chatting up passengers in the cabin and terminal, assisting them with connecting flights and passing out stacks of thank-you cards with a picture of the 777 on the back.
His efforts flow naturally from the shock of bankruptcy, which, on balance, provided a needed tonic to the airline and its workforce, the veteran pilot said.
"We value our jobs more," he said during a recent layover in Chicago. "I think, in the long run, we're going to be better."
Not every United worker shares his outlook, however, and morale may be slipping. Flight attendants feel betrayed by the company's recent move to slash retiree medical benefits, according to a union spokeswoman.
United's mechanics have seen their ranks decimated by outsourcing. And the company remains stuck in bankruptcy. Last week, it pushed back its timetable for emerging from Chapter 11 to later in the summer.
Its exit hinges on obtaining a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, which rejected a similar request in December 2002, as the airline plunged into insolvency. The board is reviewing United's latest application, a company spokesman said.
Among pilots, a mood of uncertainty reigns amid doubts about the prospects for federal legislation that would prop up the pension plans of airlines and other troubled businesses.
Customers would never know it, noted Michael Boyd of the Boyd Group airline consultancy.
"I hear morale is terrible, but when I fly United, I see no vestige of any such thing," Boyd said. "The employees are making sure [it's] not showing to the customer. It's tough to take a pay cut and have a smile on your face, but that's what they're doing."
Indeed, after two decades at United, Hareland has learned to handle the many forms of turbulence that come with the job. "You go on a roller-coaster ride," he said, "and you just hang on."
For Hareland, the ups and downs started right away after United hired him from the military in 1980. "He felt he won the lottery," his wife, Cathy, said.
But he had a long wait for the payoff. Under pressure from an economic recession, the airline immediately put him on a furlough that stretched for five years.
Hareland finally returned to work as the economy improved in 1985. But just a month later, he found himself on the street again, taking part in a divisive monthlong pilot's strike.
That event poisoned relations at the airline for years to come, sowing bitter seeds between pilots and management that eventually left United in a weak position to cope with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"My wife and I struggled with it at the time," Hareland said. "But that's just part of this business. Sometimes you're kind of a pawn, but you do the best you can."
A high point of his tenure came in the mid-1990s, with United's historic employee stock ownership plan and the worker-friendly regime of then-Chief Executive Officer Gerald Greenwald.
During that period of enormous financial prosperity, Hareland became one of the first United pilots to perform proving runs on the new state-of-the-art 777.
By the summer of 1999, Hareland's career hit another trough. Pilots were accused of orchestrating a slowdown that created gridlock in the nation's air transportation system, angering passengers and costing the airline a fortune.
Hareland said he took the heat for bad weather and air-traffic-control delays.
"Once, after landing, a passenger exiting the plane tells me, `Thanks to you, I'm going to be late to my cousin's wedding,"' he recalled. "I'm sitting there with thunderstorms and tornadoes around Chicago, and it's my fault that we're late." Hareland kept his mouth shut, though.
"The summer from hell," as it's known, gave way to the tragedy of Sept. 11 and the shock of Chapter 11. On a layover in Chicago, Hareland heard about the ATSB rejecting United's petition for a loan guarantee. Though the rejection proved to be a catalyst for needed change, he said, "At the time, I was so offended."
Bankruptcy swiftly followed, and with it a nearly one-third cut in his six-figure pay, as well as longer hours. Hareland was 53, and federal rules require commercial pilots to retire at age 60. His financial security in jeopardy, he and his wife put their Arizona home on the market to prepare for the worst.
"It was like the perfect storm," said Hareland, whose house remains for sale.
Along with many of his colleagues, he threw himself into his job, and the bankruptcy inspired unprecedented cooperation. United moved from the bottom ranks in on-time performance to the top last year.
On March 11 a year ago, as the airline's fortunes approached the lowest point in its history, Hareland piloted one leg of a routine flight from Chicago to Denver and on to San Francisco.
Flight 253 touched down in the Bay area exactly on schedule. In coming days, the airline would break a string of on-time arrival and departure records, as fearful employees strained to make everything run smoothly.
The soft landing was credited to first officer Phil Barmore, who had taken his first turn at the controls of a 777 under Hareland's instruction that day.
At the time, training a pilot on a new plane might have seemed optimistic given United's uncertain future, though Hareland was keeping the faith. "A year from now," he predicted then, "we'll be on top of the world again."
These days, he admits that prediction was premature but still makes another.
"Mark my words," he said. "One year from now, we'll be making a lot of money."
Meantime, he intends to keep passing out those 777 thank-you cards.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
In spite of layoffs, a strike, cuts in his pay and the company's bankruptcy filing, Capt. Jack Hareland remains fiercely loyal to United Airlines
By Greg Burns
Tribune senior correspondent
March 21, 2004
People say airplanes practically fly themselves these days, but Jack Hareland knows better.
The United Airlines captain knows that throttling back a little can make a takeoff safer. He knows that reading the clouds and selecting the right altitude can keep the flight running smoothly.
"It's satisfying to put all the pieces together," the Marine Corps veteran said.
If only he could control the course of his airline with the same authority as the Boeing 777s he commands.
The strain of bankruptcy has taken a toll on UAL Corp.'s depleted workforce, but it also has left a steely resolve in at least some of the survivors.
A year ago, with United in danger of going out of business, longtime employees such as Hareland poured their energy into improving its operating performance, even as they took pay cuts, bid farewell to laid-off colleagues and, as in Hareland's case, put their homes on the market.
A year later, the 54-year-old Hareland still has worries--the future of his pension tops the list--but he's determined not to let them show. That means chatting up passengers in the cabin and terminal, assisting them with connecting flights and passing out stacks of thank-you cards with a picture of the 777 on the back.
His efforts flow naturally from the shock of bankruptcy, which, on balance, provided a needed tonic to the airline and its workforce, the veteran pilot said.
"We value our jobs more," he said during a recent layover in Chicago. "I think, in the long run, we're going to be better."
Not every United worker shares his outlook, however, and morale may be slipping. Flight attendants feel betrayed by the company's recent move to slash retiree medical benefits, according to a union spokeswoman.
United's mechanics have seen their ranks decimated by outsourcing. And the company remains stuck in bankruptcy. Last week, it pushed back its timetable for emerging from Chapter 11 to later in the summer.
Its exit hinges on obtaining a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, which rejected a similar request in December 2002, as the airline plunged into insolvency. The board is reviewing United's latest application, a company spokesman said.
Among pilots, a mood of uncertainty reigns amid doubts about the prospects for federal legislation that would prop up the pension plans of airlines and other troubled businesses.
Customers would never know it, noted Michael Boyd of the Boyd Group airline consultancy.
"I hear morale is terrible, but when I fly United, I see no vestige of any such thing," Boyd said. "The employees are making sure [it's] not showing to the customer. It's tough to take a pay cut and have a smile on your face, but that's what they're doing."
Indeed, after two decades at United, Hareland has learned to handle the many forms of turbulence that come with the job. "You go on a roller-coaster ride," he said, "and you just hang on."
For Hareland, the ups and downs started right away after United hired him from the military in 1980. "He felt he won the lottery," his wife, Cathy, said.
But he had a long wait for the payoff. Under pressure from an economic recession, the airline immediately put him on a furlough that stretched for five years.
Hareland finally returned to work as the economy improved in 1985. But just a month later, he found himself on the street again, taking part in a divisive monthlong pilot's strike.
That event poisoned relations at the airline for years to come, sowing bitter seeds between pilots and management that eventually left United in a weak position to cope with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"My wife and I struggled with it at the time," Hareland said. "But that's just part of this business. Sometimes you're kind of a pawn, but you do the best you can."
A high point of his tenure came in the mid-1990s, with United's historic employee stock ownership plan and the worker-friendly regime of then-Chief Executive Officer Gerald Greenwald.
During that period of enormous financial prosperity, Hareland became one of the first United pilots to perform proving runs on the new state-of-the-art 777.
By the summer of 1999, Hareland's career hit another trough. Pilots were accused of orchestrating a slowdown that created gridlock in the nation's air transportation system, angering passengers and costing the airline a fortune.
Hareland said he took the heat for bad weather and air-traffic-control delays.
"Once, after landing, a passenger exiting the plane tells me, `Thanks to you, I'm going to be late to my cousin's wedding,"' he recalled. "I'm sitting there with thunderstorms and tornadoes around Chicago, and it's my fault that we're late." Hareland kept his mouth shut, though.
"The summer from hell," as it's known, gave way to the tragedy of Sept. 11 and the shock of Chapter 11. On a layover in Chicago, Hareland heard about the ATSB rejecting United's petition for a loan guarantee. Though the rejection proved to be a catalyst for needed change, he said, "At the time, I was so offended."
Bankruptcy swiftly followed, and with it a nearly one-third cut in his six-figure pay, as well as longer hours. Hareland was 53, and federal rules require commercial pilots to retire at age 60. His financial security in jeopardy, he and his wife put their Arizona home on the market to prepare for the worst.
"It was like the perfect storm," said Hareland, whose house remains for sale.
Along with many of his colleagues, he threw himself into his job, and the bankruptcy inspired unprecedented cooperation. United moved from the bottom ranks in on-time performance to the top last year.
On March 11 a year ago, as the airline's fortunes approached the lowest point in its history, Hareland piloted one leg of a routine flight from Chicago to Denver and on to San Francisco.
Flight 253 touched down in the Bay area exactly on schedule. In coming days, the airline would break a string of on-time arrival and departure records, as fearful employees strained to make everything run smoothly.
The soft landing was credited to first officer Phil Barmore, who had taken his first turn at the controls of a 777 under Hareland's instruction that day.
At the time, training a pilot on a new plane might have seemed optimistic given United's uncertain future, though Hareland was keeping the faith. "A year from now," he predicted then, "we'll be on top of the world again."
These days, he admits that prediction was premature but still makes another.
"Mark my words," he said. "One year from now, we'll be making a lot of money."
Meantime, he intends to keep passing out those 777 thank-you cards.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
