Things AA "can" afford

[Bob Owens]

Well those who work for AA keep hearing how the company "cant afford" to pay a decent wage. Well with revenues up $5 billion and the number of workers down as much as 50,000 I thought it may be a good idea to start to list some of the things that AA "can afford".

I'll start it off with this;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scoutingny/sets/72157625554653519/with/5295415190/

 

[odie01]

Well those who work for AA keep hearing how the company "cant afford" to pay a decent wage. Well with revenues up $5 billion and the number of workers down as much as 50,000 I thought it may be a good idea to start to list some of the things that AA "can afford".

I'll start it off with this;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scoutingny/sets/72157625554653519/with/5295415190/

It's Thursday and negotiations end tomorrow, I think I see where this is going.

 

[Bob Owens]

and another;
http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/americanairlinestheater/theater.php

A little irony with the title of whats playng.

 

[odie01]

and another;
http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/americanairlinestheater/theater.php

A little irony with the title of whats playng.

I like basketball, but no free tickets for me.

 

[737823]

Well those who work for AA keep hearing how the company "cant afford" to pay a decent wage. Well with revenues up $5 billion and the number of workers down as much as 50,000 I thought it may be a good idea to start to list some of the things that AA "can afford".

I'll start it off with this;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scoutingny/sets/72157625554653519/with/5295415190/

So aparently the solid middle class lifestyle and generous benefits afforded to AA employees is not considered "decent"? Your union "brothers and sisters" at UA and US would gladly trade up to your contract as would your non-union peers at DL and B6. I love how uninformed APFA leadership is claiming AA has money for Admirals Club projects and aircraft refurbishments yet doesn't have money for employees. They clearly havent been in AA clubs and/or compared them to others-they're a far cry from JAL at Narita or BA at Heathrow. They are also out of touch for the simple fact that AA aircraft are an aging fleet of antique MD 80s and 767s with dated in-flight products. They conveniently neglect to appreciate that they are among the highest paid in the industry and are a brick in AAs backpack hindering the company's success.

Josh

 

[eolesen]

So you seriously are suggesting that the airline should stop all consumer marketing and advertising?...

You guys crack me up sometimes. Maybe AA should just get rid of customers, too. That would open up more seats for the nonrevs.

 

[Maark767]

So you seriously are suggesting that the airline should stop all consumer marketing and advertising?...

You guys crack me up sometimes. Maybe AA should just get rid of customers, too. That would open up more seats for the nonrevs.

Boy , you sure didn't get it . Did you ! Look alittle closer.....See whats going on ???

 

[Hopeful]

So you seriously are suggesting that the airline should stop all consumer marketing and advertising?...

You guys crack me up sometimes. Maybe AA should just get rid of customers, too. That would open up more seats for the nonrevs.

I don't believe AA should stop advertising or sponsoring sports arenas or broadway theaters.
But as employees, it is a very hard thing to accept when they continually cry the "we need to cut labor costs in order to compete therefore we can't give employees much."
it is quite hypocritical to cry the blues while see AA put their names on arenas and theaters.

 

[Hopeful]

So aparently the solid middle class lifestyle and generous benefits afforded to AA employees is not considered "decent"? Your union "brothers and sisters" at UA and US would gladly trade up to your contract as would your non-union peers at DL and B6. I love how uninformed APFA leadership is claiming AA has money for Admirals Club projects and aircraft refurbishments yet doesn't have money for employees. They clearly havent been in AA clubs and/or compared them to others-they're a far cry from JAL at Narita or BA at Heathrow. They are also out of touch for the simple fact that AA aircraft are an aging fleet of antique MD 80s and 767s with dated in-flight products. They conveniently neglect to appreciate that they are among the highest paid in the industry and are a brick in AAs backpack hindering the company's success.

Josh

Typical anti-worker, pro company blowharded remarks!
Were you nice and comfy over the last couple of snow storms? While the "bricks" as you call us got to work, worked in the worst of elements so big shot frequent flyers like yourself could look out the terminal windows and look down at the "bricks" and say to yourself how much better you are than them.
I could care less about JAL and BA "big shot passenger lounges."

You can go scratch your you know what!

I remember AA's historical success when they gave employees a few percent increase over a 6 year period.

Spare me the "oh, you low life workers should be greatful to have jobs and should bend over more so AA can be a success and offer BIG SHOT FLYERS LIKE JOSH CAN GET MORE AMMENITIES AND MAYBE A MASSAGE IN THE ADMIRAL'S CLUB.

Go fly Jetblue and Southwest to Europe,, I hope you can swim long distances.

 

[Maark767]

Typical anti-worker, pro company blowharded remarks!
Were you nice and comfy over the last couple of snow storms? While the "bricks" as you call us got to work, worked in the worst of elements so big shot frequent flyers like yourself could look out the terminal windows and look down at the "bricks" and say to yourself how much better you are than them.
I could care less about JAL and BA "big shot passenger lounges."

You can go scratch your you know what!

I remember AA's historical success when they gave employees a few percent increase over a 6 year period.

Spare me the "oh, you low life workers should be greatful to have jobs and should bend over more so AA can be a success and offer BIG SHOT FLYERS LIKE JOSH CAN GET MORE AMMENITIES AND MAYBE A MASSAGE IN THE ADMIRAL'S CLUB.

Go fly Jetblue and Southwest to Europe,, I hope you can swim long distances.

How about they come clean on what they do for a living .... Lets go through their salary and benefits and see what we can cut. Who gives them the right to dictate what we deserve....
Love to see the look on their faces if all of the sudden a 33 % pay and benefit cut was staring them in the face. And then their bosses were taking millions in bonuses and claiming the company costs are way to high, sorry no raises.

 

[Hopeful]

How about they come clean on what they do for a living .... Lets go through their salary and benefits and see what we can cut. Who gives them the right to dictate what we deserve....
Love to see the look on their faces if all of the sudden a 33 % pay and benefit cut was staring them in the face. And then their bosses were taking millions in bonuses and claiming the company costs are way to high, sorry no raises.

Good idea....they like to dissect what workers do in order to justify compensation.

Hey EXECS! Whaddya say?

 

[paul1]

Well great I can see bob is making this a productive week THANKS

Well my prediction of artilces 11 and 12 being agreed to is probally falling apart as I type this.

Lets get to the binding arbitartion already

 

[FWAAA]

I don't believe AA should stop advertising or sponsoring sports arenas or broadway theaters.
But as employees, it is a very hard thing to accept when they continually cry the "we need to cut labor costs in order to compete therefore we can't give employees much."
it is quite hypocritical to cry the blues while see AA put their names on arenas and theaters.

I'm certain that it's personally painful for you and the other AA employees who understandably want pay increases and are unwilling to accept any further concessions, but there's no hypocrisy on the part of your horrible employer. AA's entire advertising expense in 2009 and 2008 was $153 million and $162 million in the big-spending 2007. In a few weeks we'll know what AA spent in 2010. As an aside, WN has outspent AA in advertising for most of the past decade when measured by the relative size of both airlines.

If AA had spent nothing on advertising in 2009 and had split the money among the employees, it would have been a whopping $1,937 per employee. Wouldn't go very far toward restoring the painful concessions forced upon you in 2003, and without any advertising, who knows how low revenue might fall.

What AA "can't afford" is to agree to long-term contracts obligating AA to substantial pay raises unless/until its competitors agree to similar raises. Like it or not, the employees of DL, NW, UA and US took bigger hits than AA's employees in their recent bankruptcies and thus those airlines have a pay advantage over AA. CO's employees suffered for many years prior to 2003 under very reduced pay as a result of CO's two prior bankruptcies.

In the maintenance area, AA "can't afford" to pay the base employees the UPS/FedEX/WN-type wages that the line employees like you and Bob deserve. As I've posted before, much of what the overhaul staff does can be performed anywhere in the world by, generally, lower paid employees. Neither UPS nor FedEX nor WN perform any heavy disassemble-the-entire-airplane-type maintenance performed by AA at TUL or AFW. Like it or not, that is helping to hold you back.

 

[Hopeful]

In the maintenance area, AA "can't afford" to pay the base employees the UPS/FedEX/WN-type wages that the line employees like you and Bob deserve. As I've posted before, much of what the overhaul staff does can be performed anywhere in the world by, generally, lower paid employees. Neither UPS nor FedEX nor WN perform any heavy disassemble-the-entire-airplane-type maintenance performed by AA at TUL or AFW. Like it or not, that is helping to hold you back.

Once again i will ask the question...............

"WHY HAS AA NOT PROPOSED GETTING RID OF OVERHAUL IN EXXCHANGE FOR UPS/FDX WAGES????????????????????????????????????????????
I am not advocating this idea.....But if the pro company, anti union defenders insist on suggesting that if we didn't have overhaul, we'd havd UPS/FDX wages. The please answer the above question.

After all, it doesn't hurt to ask, now does it?

And unless you are a privileged AA executive, how do you know AA can't afford to pay FDX/UPS wages?
NOT wanting to pay them is more like it!

 

[FWAAA]

Perhaps AA hasn't proposed getting rid of overhaul because the status quo is the cheapest (or most desirable) of the alternatives. My WAG is that AA would be amenable to paying the line employees more as long as the TUL and AFW employees didn't go along for the ride. AA would probably like to keep the overhaul in-house to control quality, etc and would like to keep paying the base employees about the same wages they are currently getting.

Hopeful, you don't have to be "privileged executive" to realize that AA can't afford to restore the concessions, and raising AA mx wages to UPS-levels would cost more than "restore."