Bob Crandall quote from latest Aviation Week Magazine article

[777forever]

June 16th, 2008 issue p. 62

The carriers need help in curbing labor costs. No airline can endure a strike, and will yield to labor's demands. The result has been labor rates and work rules far more generous than those for comparable skills in other industries. Since strikes against transportation and utilities are contrary to the public interest, the Railway Labor Act should be amended to require binding arbitration.

Excuuusee me.....

 

[IXLR8]

Spoken like a true CEO of the times....

 

[Sinca3]

Spoken like a true CEO of the times....

Thank God he isn't an major airline CEO anymore....

 

[Flyby1206]

How quickly things change. Wasnt it a week or two ago everyone was so happy with his comments about re-regulation?

 

[Morgoth]

...the Railway Labor Act should be amended to require binding arbitration.

Yeah, we all saw how well binding arbitration worked with USAir. GMAFB! LOL.

 

[pilotyip]

Nasty old man

Thank God he isn't an major airline CEO anymore....

Yea this is the same nasty old man who crushed Braniff, and allowed AAL to rapidly expand and create jobs for pilots in the 80's. New hires moved from new hire to F/O in about 4 years back in the 80's and were in the CA seat forever.

 

[dispatchguy]

Dont forget, he gave us the B-Scale!

 

[Fubijaakr]

Well, of course. The two concepts go hand in hand. Reregulation to provide a baseline of profit and binding arbitration so you don't have to pay that profit to your stinking labor.

That means more money for the fatcats.

 

[ils2minimums]

I don't necessarily think he was referring to pilots... I think he was most likely talking about flight attendants and rampers whose "skills" wouldn't translate to a $50,000 - $75,000+ annual income outside the airline industry.

 

[Tanker Clown]

I don't necessarily think he was referring to pilots... I think he was most likely talking about flight attendants and rampers whose "skills" wouldn't translate to a $50,000 - $75,000+ annual income outside the airline industry.

NICE! A Crandall apologist. This guy must be an officer in ALPA!

 

[Publishers]

It is pretty simple statement and one that is very true. This is not a product line that you can shut down for a few weeks. This is a business that would go away in a few weeks even considering it would take Chapter 11 almost immediately. When you have that kind of environment, there is no fair and equitable package or real negotiation. Look at the pay on an auto line at the old companies. The only thing that let it go on before was the CAB and protection of routes.

 

[pilotyip]

Dont forget, he gave us the B-Scale!

no he offered that to the piltos as an option for more growth, which ment the "I got mine" could vote for it and more quickly move into the left seat.

 

[Fubijaakr]

And he conveniently forgot to add "baseball" in the binding arbitration bit. Of course, management would love baseball arbitration for all labor groups.

 

[ils2minimums]

NICE! A Crandall apologist. This guy must be an officer in ALPA!

No, you arrogant douchebag, I'm just stating an opinion. I'm not a fan of Crandall's. I was just as happy as everyone else at AA to see him hit the road. In other interviews he's given in the past couple of months he's hinted that non-skilled labor costs at airlines are out of whack with the rest of the economy.

No apologizing here...

 

[OurMoney1]

A little history for you kids...

He invented the B Scale, frequent flier program, and the divide and conquer style of leadership.

The man is a snake.

 

[Texx]

A little history for you kids...

He invented the B Scale, frequent flier program, and the divide and conquer style of leadership.

The man is a snake.

No, the man was management. What did you expect him to do.

 

[Publishers]

Regardless of what you guys think, he was perhaps the most innovative management person in US airline history. He, Herb Kelleher, and Gordon Bethune were excellent managers who guided their carriers through some tough times.
B scale saved the airline against people like Braniff which would have buried him. The frequent flyer program, what he did in yield management, and other things he did made American the name it is today.
Even most of his pilots and employees would say, he is a bastard but thank God he is our bastard. He correctly predicted what would happen to the airline business after deregulation.
Those who knock what he did are ignorant of the industry they are in.

 

[HalinTexas]

Braniff was never in any condition to bury anyone. They were messed up before dereg. really took effect.

 

[Cobra17]

Regardless of what you guys think, he was perhaps the most innovative management person in US airline history. He, Herb Kelleher, and Gordon Bethune were excellent managers who guided their carriers through some tough times.

I would submit that it is an insult to Kelleher to put him in the same category as Bob Crandall. Crandall certainly did care about and do a lot of great things for AA, but much of it was at the expense of his employees, not because he was concerned about them.

...things he did made American the name it is today. ...

What name is that? I haven't heard too many praises from employees or customers lately.

That is not a knock against any of the employees. On the contrary, I sympathize with them and their plight against a greedy mgmt team without a sound business model.