Letter from Branson

[jetjock6]

Dear Sucker, (Colleague, Team Member, Valued Associate, ect...)

Blah blah blah... Proud blah blah blah...Hard work blah blah...Safety blah blah.. Very appreciative blah blah.

However...blah blah blah Tough times blah blah...High cost blah blah blah...Fuel prices blah blah blah...Remain competitive blah blah.

Good offer blah blah blah...Industery standard blah blah blah...Over all package blah blah blah...Must remain competitive blah blah.

Future of the company blah blah blah...Dangerous precedent blah blah blah... Disastrous consequences blah blah blah...Remain competitive blah blah.

Make right decision blah blah blah...Consider fellow employees and their families blah blah.

Sincerely
D Bag (CEO, COO,CFO, or VP of xxxxxxx)
(Your Airline Here)

 

[Sedona16]

I get it now, you haven't been in this business for long have you?

Thirteen years and five carriers doesn't qualify? Sit down schoolboy.

 

[pipe]

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3114968.ece

From Times Online
December 31, 2007

Sir Richard Branson's letter to staff

The full text of Sir Richard Branson's letter, sent to the homes of 4,800 Virgin Atlantic cabin crew

Dear Colleague,

Even the mighty Continental Airlines, Delta, Northwest and United all went bust only to be bailed out by the US Government with massive loans. One of the principal reasons for these airlines’ demise was internal strife.

R
Richard Branson

When is this massive government loan going to be delivered? The only bailouts so far have come from the employees. In fact, the US government gave him more (an FAA certificate) than they have given to any US carrier.

PIPE

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

When is this massive government loan going to be delivered? The only bailouts so far have come from the employees. In fact, the US government gave him more (an FAA certificate) than they have given to any US carrier.

PIPE

Yeah.....good point Pipe...

I wish Delta HAD received some money in a government bailout......He needs to get his facts straight....awww, but who needs facts when you are an airline manager....

What a waste of skin....This tool Branson gets a certificate and then points the finger at the US government being soooooo evil.

 

[IronCityBlue]

In a perfect world trouble on the home front will restrict his ability to make mischief over here.

That would be most perfect, in indeed!

 

[WSurf]

Thirteen years and five carriers doesn't qualify? Sit down schoolboy.

Well if that letter seems interesting to you then no wonder you have been at 5 carriers in 13 years. You are a freakin idiot then! Nothing about that letter is interesting, same a$$ management tatics that YOU of all people should know by now. Does The word 'sucker' mean anything to you. I guess one is born everyday.

Hell you need to go to School--------> Boy!!!!!

 

[JJET44]

Well if that letter seems interesting to you then no wonder you have been at 5 carriers in 13 years. You are a freakin idiot then! Nothing about that letter is interesting, same a$$ management tatics that YOU of all people should know by now. Does The word 'sucker' mean anything to you. I guess one is born everyday.

Hell you need to go to School--------> Boy!!!!!

I'd have to agree!!
Sounds like someone has bad discion making skills.

Also, I think I saw that letter as a template years ago in one of my aviation management textbooks in college. It was one of those fill in the balnks type.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Dear Sucker, (Colleague, Team Member, Valued Associate, ect...)

Blah blah blah... Proud blah blah blah...Hard work blah blah...Safety blah blah.. Very appreciative blah blah.

However...blah blah blah Tough times blah blah...High cost blah blah blah...Fuel prices blah blah blah...Remain competitive blah blah.

Good offer blah blah blah...Industery standard blah blah blah...Over all package blah blah blah...Must remain competitive blah blah.

Future of the company blah blah blah...Dangerous precedent blah blah blah... Disastrous consequences blah blah blah...Remain competitive blah blah.

Make right decision blah blah blah...Consider fellow employees and their families blah blah.

Sincerely
D Bag (CEO, COO,CFO, or VP of xxxxxxx)
(Your Airline Here)

That was good!

 

[glasspilot1]

>> In our relatively short history, we’ve seen the demise of every airline we competed against back in 1984 (except BA). TWA, Pan Am, People’s Express, Air Florida to name but a few. <<

Now that we're pickin apart his letter; it's "People Express", not "People's Express"!

 

[Cardinal]

Now that we're pickin apart his letter; it's "People Express", not "People's Express"!

There it is! He's a communist! I knew, it! He's after our bodily fluids. Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?

 

[Guitar Guy]

There it is! He's a communist! I knew, it! He's after our bodily fluids. Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?

That's why we must only drink pure rainwater.

 

[Sedona16]

Well if that letter seems interesting to you then no wonder you have been at 5 carriers in 13 years. You are a freakin idiot then! Nothing about that letter is interesting, same a$$ management tatics that YOU of all people should know by now. Does The word 'sucker' mean anything to you. I guess one is born everyday.

Hell you need to go to School--------> Boy!!!!!

And this coming from a regional guy who's flying a dash? I'm a "sucker" for continually studying the tactics used by management and trying to educate those not familiar? Let me guess, along with knowing everything there is to know, you are the pilot that doesnt make mistakes....the guy that says unions are for the weak because all a guy has to do is perform perfectly every day and night of his career and he doesnt have to worry about it?

Considering two of the companies I flew for were small freight, two were 121 regional (furloughed by one) and now at arguably one of the best 121 carriers still alive I would say I am doing ok. You on the other hand will still be flying your dash for 55/hr in five years. Whos the genius? Like I said sit down school boy. Maybe you will learn something.

Another point to be made, not all reading this forum are as "enlightened" as you. Plenty of military folks, who are just learning how to read a jepp come here to learn about the 121 world of flying. Who made you the "thats not worthy material to post" Nazzi? Do you also troll around looking for misspelled words with your dictionary to show your superior spelling skills to the world? Crawl back in your hole....nobody is impressed.

 

[WSurf]

And this coming from a regional guy who's flying a dash? I'm a "sucker" for continually studying the tactics used by management and trying to educate those not familiar? Let me guess, along with knowing everything there is to know, you are the pilot that doesnt make mistakes....the guy that says unions are for the weak because all a guy has to do is perform perfectly every day and night of his career and he doesnt have to worry about it?

Considering two of the companies I flew for were small freight, two were 121 regional (furloughed by one) and now at arguably one of the best 121 carriers still alive I would say I am doing ok. You on the other hand will still be flying your dash for 55/hr in five years. Whos the genius? Like I said sit down school boy. Maybe you will learn something.

Another point to be made, not all reading this forum are as "enlightened" as you. Plenty of military folks, who are just learning how to read a jepp come here to learn about the 121 world of flying. Who made you the "thats not worthy material to post" Nazzi? Do you also troll around looking for misspelled words with your dictionary to show your superior spelling skills to the world? Crawl back in your hole....nobody is impressed.

Slow down son take a breath and get that twist out of your panties.

Didn't mean to get you so worked up. Kinda funny however.

And the 1980's just called and wanted your "Schoolboy" phrase sent back to them!

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

I thought the letter was straight forward and non threatening.... unlike other letters in the past. He is drawing his line is the sand... which is fine... we all do that in negotiations... he doesn't use threats of the airline collapsing, etc... in fact he simply invites employees to leave if they don't like it...

Unlike the Flying Tiger letter...
posted for comparison...

Learning from History, Nov./Dec. 05, p. 30

'Whiners and Crybabies'
In January 1960—41 days before I was born—Bob Prescott, the president of the Flying Tiger Line, sent a letter about strikes to Flying Tiger pilots. The letter shows how, over the course of four-and-a-half decades, issues between workers and employers, particularly pilots, have been quite consistent. It shows that management is unwilling to negotiate in areas that truly matter to pilots and that the struggle to maintain a decent lifestyle while flying for a living is not new.
Prescott, in his opening paragraph, politely informs readers that he wants to educate them about strike ramifications. This may not seem like an important tactic, but it gives readers the subtle impression that they have not been told enough, and maybe not the truth, by union leaders. It initiates his portrayal of himself as the savior of the uninformed who will lead the masses to the truth.
After the opener, Prescott launches the first main point of the letter—the (character) assassination of the pilot negotiators. The next three paragraphs detail the “arrogant” stance of the pilots’ Negotiating Committee and the union’s leaders. These paragraphs also paint the pilots’ positions as being too zealous and dangerous through three main themes:
1. The Negotiating Committee has been difficult, unprofessional, overreaching, and lacking the necessary savvy to know what can be expected in the industry.
2. Management has been magnanimous in its cooperation, doing everything within its power to accommodate this Committee, despite the Committee members’ arrogance.
3. The president is even taking time out of his busy schedule to personally rescue the company from the union’s Negotiating Committee.
Prescott drives these points home through insinuation and embedded threats, using statements like “an unusually difficult time with your negotiating committee” and “an agreement we could live with and still keep the company alive.” Companies in the 1960s knew the value of employing good union-busting wordsmiths the same way that modern companies do, and the best ones do their work without overtly stating the intent, but through cumulative impression.
After painting the union leaders as obstructionists, the next step in the letter is to attack the union’s negotiating position. As is traditional, Prescott uses impressive-looking numbers that mean nothing to characterize the union’s position. The letter states that Flying Tigers has agreed to 110 out of the 155 items being negotiated. Anyone giving a smell test to that statement should be able to quickly discern that the items agreed to were no doubt of little, if any, monetary consequence. This is especially evident when these numbers are followed in the letter by a list of the difficult issues, which boil down to three main items—pay, retirement, and trip rig.
All three of these main items are crucial issues in all modern airline contract negotiations. Modern airline work rules incorporate the first and third issues, and retirement stands out as one of the key issues then as it is for pilots now. In spite of the fact that the current labor environment is such that corporate interests are heavily favored (and management can whittle away the benefits and pay of employees rather easily), the struggle over benefits is by no means unfamiliar territory to long-term labor observers.
The middle third of the letter seeks to demoralize and marginalize the concerns of the pilots and gives reasons why pilots are not worthy of improvements in their working conditions. These five paragraphs can be summarized in five paraphrased statements (many of which you may recognize):
1. You make so much money now!
2. No matter what the profits of the corporation might appear, we can’t afford what you demand!
3. Work rules changes will have no effect on your life!
4. If you were not so demanding, a contract would not take so long to negotiate!
5. Look at the state of the rest of the industry!
After these “classics” come a few paragraphs of strike “information.” The first major paragraph on strikes incorporates two big weapons: it posits a not-so-thinly veiled threat that any strike will be an all-out war, and it intimates that the union leaders are naive in their drastic underestimation of how big a fight a strike is.
The strike “information” paragraph combines two of the most effective, time-honored tactics in negotiations. The threat of job loss is one of the most devastating threats that management has. The paragraph states something that was wrong in 1960 and is purely wrong in today’s legal structure. It says, “Now, when you strike, you quit your job.” You do not quit your job when you go on strike—you remain an employee with numerous rights. Misinformation like this is one of the strongest weapons against the uneducated, and examples abound of companies willing to lie to their employees, hoping that they are too naive to know better.
The second tactic: “I would think you would be a little more cautious about handing over your strike vote, so that a small group can put your future in such jeopardy.” Prescott suggests that just a small group of radicals is endangering the welfare of the larger workforce. The marginalization of the leaders is a main undercurrent throughout the letter. These tactics are all used to set readers up for the knockout.
The lead punch is in the third to last paragraph, in which the Flying Tigers president vows that he will bow down to nobody and says that thousands of good pilots are ready to take Flying Tigers jobs. He presses the nuclear button and is hoping that the crew force implodes. He makes no mention of the incredible cost of training replacements, or the lost income for the company when its customers go elsewhere because no pilots are available to fly the airplanes.
After that body shot, the next paragraph is the right hook, the second half of the combination—the excuse, “we’re getting a much bigger airplane, so you’re going to make much more money without a raise.” The letter states that “the pay for a CL-44 nine year Captain under the last contract offer would allow him to earn as much as $27,000 annually. So think twice before you ruin it.” All you have to do is replace “CL-44” with “A380,” and you have the modern version of this line.
The closing paragraph, as is typical, tries one final time to separate the union’s leaders from its members. It begins with an allusion to “a few whiners and crybabies.” I don’t expect to see the words “whiners” and “crybabies” in a modern version of one of these letters, but over the years more politically correct messages have been crafted with the same intent.
These tactics are time-honored, and this fight is ages old, much like the labor issues that continue to plague us after four-and-a-half decades. Don’t forget, company managements have so many ways now to deliver these messages—letters, DVDs, blogs, newspaper ads, streaming video, internal corporate media, and even the Good­year blimp. Your nose should be getting educated enough by now to sniff out the content and the intent of communications like these, whatever their form. As Capt. Woerth often says, “Same circus, different clowns.” —, MEC Communications Chairman

​

continued...

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

cont...

​

​

The Flying Tiger Line Inc.​

​

Office of the President
January 19, 1960

TO: ALL FLYING TIGER LINE PILOTS:
I thought perhaps it might be a good idea to explain to you what has been going on from our side of the picture and also impart to you some facts of life about strikes that you might not be fully cognizant of.
We have had an unusually difficult time with your negotiating committee on this contract. They came in last July with a proposal that contained demands for some 155 changes in the contract, many of them completely ridiculous. As you know, our executives spent many months with them trying to hammer out an agreement that we could live with and still keep the company alive. Your negotiators appeared to be in the mood to make no concessions. Their attitude seemed to be, “This is what we want and we want it and we could care less what your problems are.” This attitude makes bargaining almost impossible.
When things reached an impasse in November, 1959, they asked you for a strike vote and apparently got it. They set the first strike date on January 4th and we learned of it by reading it in the newspapers. They didn’t even have the courtesy of notifying us directly, another example of the arrogance we have had to put up with over the past few months.
I got into the act shortly after the first of the year because I knew this company and its pilots had no business getting into a strike situation.
Of the 155 items on their demand list we had conceded on something like 110 of them. The issues finally boiled down to three main items:
1. Flight pay and allowances.
2. A retirement plan.
3. The so-called 1 for 4 plan where the pilot is paid for one hour of flying for each four hours he is away from home, whether he flies or not.
On the pay item, as we’ve told you, we gave an increase of about $175 per month for Captains and $98 a month for Co-pilots. This works out to where a senior Captain can earn almost $23,000 per year, and a Co-pilot about $15,000.
On the retirement plan I felt the company was not ready. Regardless of which you might think, we are still on a hand-to-mouth existence and will be until we get the CL-44 in operation. However, we stretched a point and offered to install a plan on July 1, 1960 that would be largely patterned after that one which was instituted in 1952 by Western Airlines. Your negotiators demanded past service benefits. The estimated cost of this on a company wide basis would be around $2,500,000 which we simply cannot afford at this time, so we had to turn it down.
The 1 for 4 issue we could not cope with. We estimated it would increase our flight crew expense by about 25% without adding anything to our crews’ income. Further, it would completely eliminate us from competition in a large segment of our business. We had to turn it down.
One remaining issue was the retroactive pay. They wanted it back to August 1, 1959. We did not feel that all the delay in getting a contract was our fault. We therefore offered retroactivity to November 1, 1959.
These concessions were not enough for your negotiators and I began to get the feeling that it would be impossible to work out any reasonable contract with them. The pay offer was considerably higher than those with whom we have to compete, such as Slick, Seaboard and Western, Overseas National, and none of these companies has a retirement plan of any kind.
So, we had had so much of this strike talk, we finally rebelled and decided to let them have at it.
Now, let me give you a few words on strikes. Strikes are very much like wars. One side tries to inflict sufficient damage or the threat of damage to the other side until somebody surrenders. Your negotiators spoke of a “peaceful strike.” I found what they wanted was for us to lay down and play dead. I’m sorry that I could not concede to this one final demand. It just goes against my idea of a fight. If we in management should lay down and play dead every time somebody says “boo” to us you wouldn’t have a job to argue about because there wouldn’t be a company. I don’t need to point out to you what has happened to some of our erstwhile competitors.
Now, when you strike you quit your job. You refuse to report for work. Then, if you want to operate an airline, which we do, we have to hire a pilot take your place. When that happens you no longer have a job. That job now belongs to the new pilot and we could not take it away from him and give it back to you even if we wanted to. I’m not sure that all of you realize that. If you do, I would think you would be a little more cautious about handing over your strike vote, so that a small group can put your future in such jeopardy.
And, I must tell you this. This company is not bowing down to anybody. If you don’t want to fly for it there are thousands of good pilots who do want to and who could care less for what ALPA thinks or does.
I think that if you will look around you, you will find that The Flying Tiger Line Inc. has done pretty well by you, considering the conditions under which it has had to grow. Your future is brighter as you look forward to the CL-44 and is more secure than that of an employee of any other post-war airline like ours. Incidentally, the pay for a CL-44 nine year Captain under the last contract offer would allow him to earn as much as $27,000 annually. So think twice before you ruin it.
You are a great bunch of pilots with the exception of a few whiners and crybabies, and I am proud of you. It is my hope that we can settle this thing and get back to fighting our real competition instead of each other.

Sincerely,
Robert W. Prescott,
President