Best AA CEO = Who...?

[satpak77]

Saw the AA show on CNBC again, still enjoy watching it, it brought up a question:

Who do the employees consider to have been the "best" CEO that AA had? IE: Carty, Crandall, Arpey, etc?

 

[ERfly]

C.R. Smith.

Seems like all the others have been downhill.

 

[instructordude]

Carty was the most worst.

While this may not be popular, Arpey is probably the best considering he has steered American away from BK and molded together a future plan for their airline. People will remember him 10 years from now as that dude that put that place headed in the right direction. Plus he is a commercial pilot, so he has to be ok.

 

[satpak77]

Carty was the most worst.

While this may not be popular, Arpey is probably the best considering he has steered American away from BK and molded together a future plan for their airline. People will remember him 10 years from now as that dude that put that place headed in the right direction. Plus he is a commercial pilot, so he has to be ok.

On the show, Arpey seemed more people oriented, "softer", but in the cut-throat airline business, I don't know if that is what works best (actually I don't have an MBA from Wharton/Harvard/et al, so I suppose I actually don't know what works best...)

I know Crandall didn't take ***t from competitors. I think the famous "Space Shuttle Astronaut" pre-employment physical exam existed under Crandall also.

 

[PHXFLYR]

C.R. Smith.

Seems like all the others have been downhill.

Absolutly correct. My Dad retired in 1984 after having spent 33 years in Aircraft Maintenance with American. He started at LGA in 1951 ,hangar maintenance, graveyard shift wrenching on CV240's and DC6's. I remember him telling me of the time that CR Smith the President of American at the time,and one of the company founders came down to the hangar floor one night to "see how my boys were doing" (his exact words according to Dad ) Mind you, this was on the graveyard shift, and wasn't an isolated visit. Well, long story short, Dad said that it didn't matter whether you were a new hire mechanic like him and his buddies or some grizzled vet who spun the prop for Lindbergh , the morale boost that visit and others like it were such that they would have carried that company on its back if that's what it took for "their airline" to succeed.


Funny how something as simple as a midnight visit by the President of the company "to see how my boys were doing " can make a group of employees think of the company they work for as "their airline" Think anyone in management out there today would even think of doing something like that today ?? Not on your life. And if there was,would our response to the visit be the same as Dad's and his buds back in 1951, or one of skeptism?

PHXFLYR

 

[regionalcap]

Absolutley correst. My Dad retired from American,in 1984 after having spent 33 years in Aircraft Maintenance. He started at LGA in 1951 ,hangar maintenance, graveyard shift wrenching on CV240's and DC6's. I remeber him telling me of the time that CR Smith came down to the hangar floor one night to "see how my boys were doing" (his exact words according to Dad ) Mind you 'this was on the graveyard shift and wasn't an isolated visit. well, long story short,Dad said that it didn't matter whether you were a new hire mechanic like him o and his buddies or some grizzled vet who spun the prop for Lindbergh , the morale boost that visit and others like it were such that they would have carried that company on its back if that's what it t tre you were on the senority list the effect on morale was such that they would have carried ther you were on e of the '

Good story...you lost me at the end though.

 

[PHXFLYR]

yeah.... I accidently posted it before I cleaned it up. Reread it again, I posted the edited version.

PHXFLYR

 

[AA717driver]

AMR has created a culture of compartmentalization and mistrust of employees at all levels. No one can trust their co-workers for fear of being reported (the smallest infractions of the rules are swiftly and severely punished).

Arpey has continued the legacy of Carty and filled flight ops with suck-ups who are afraid to fly (the VP Flight Ops. doesn't even hold a valid FAA medical--now there's a "leader" worthy of respect).

AMR has become the opposite of what PHXFLYR described. It is a bureaucracy that just happens to be supported by the cash flow generated by an airline.

That Arpey has a pilot's licence means nothing. At least Instructor Dude is consistent. TC

 

[Kharma Police]

Although "Fangs" was not well liked by the employees, AA went from a national carrier to an international powerhouse under Crandall. Inovations in yield management, Sabre and the modern day frequent flier program where all developed during his tenure.

 

[PSL]

A friend of mine who is a 1980 hire at AA said the following ...

'Crandall was a bastard ... but he WAS OUR BASTARD !' and appears to be the last of the recent CEOs who wanted to run an airline rather than an entitlement program for the ultra-arrogant'

 

[AA767AV8TOR]

CR Smith was probably the last great one. Crandall was good and a true visionary, but was definitely not a people person.

Carty was a complete disaster.

Arpey is neither a leader nor a visionary. He really isn’t much of a people person either and seems to have almost disappeared from sight since his esteemed management starting stuffing their pockets with so-called bonuses under the auspices of our “pull together, win together” scam of a contract in 2003.

It’s too bad now that aviation just seems to attract managers that want to make a quick buck at labor’s expense and move on.

AA767AV8TOR

 

[Tejas-Jet]

I remember him telling me of the time that CR Smith the President of American at the time,and one of the company founders came down to the hangar floor one night to "see how my boys were doing" (his exact words according to Dad )

the morale boost that visit and others like it were such that they would have carried that company on its back if that's what it took for "their airline" to succeed.


Funny how something as simple as a midnight visit by the President of the company "to see how my boys were doing " can make a group of employees think of the company they work for as "their airline" Think anyone in management out there today would even think of doing something like that today ?? Not on your life.

PHXFLYR

The exact kind of stuff that Herb Kelleher is known for. and you can see the results that come from that type of relationship. Herb used to drink at "The Cockpit" bar near Love field with the pilots and mechanics.

One former Braniff guy told me that when he saw that...he knew Braniff was done...that just didn't exist at Braniff under the "leadership" ( ahem) of then CEO Harding Lawrence

Last Thanksgiving Day, I saw Gary Kelly in the HOU pilot lounge....just stopping by top say "hello" to the Pilots out working on a holiday.

Every ops in our system had some type of food out there for the guys/gals who are working on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Additionally, SWA foots the bill for a bkfst or a dinner for the flight crews at the layover hotels on Christmas day.

It's those typs of gestures that keeps employee loyalty strong.

 

[PHXFLYR]

Regrettably Herb, and I guess Gary Kelly from what you mentioned in your post, are the exceptions in the ranks of airline management today, rather than the rule.

PHXFLYR

 

[AA717driver]

Gary Kelly said in an interview recently that there is a parade of managers from other airlines who come through SWA HQ and study the way they do things.

When Kelly tells them to empower your frontline employees he just gets that deer-in-the-headlights stare and they shuffle off mumbling about how that won't work.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results." A. Einstein.

TC

 

[gangdev]

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results." A. Einstein.

TC[/quote]

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the universe." A. Einstein.

Just thought I'd share another Einstein quote which is also fitting to this industry.