Frank Lorenzo was a jerk but..........
How is what Frank Lorenzo did all that much different from what is going on in the industry today? Using the Bankruptcy process to ravage union contracts and screw every creditor you owe money to...still being done. Forcing strikes and using scabs to run the company (NWA mechanics)...... still being done. Transfering work to lower cost providers (subcontractors for lots of things and movement of flying from majors to regionals and from more expensive regioanals to cheaper ones).....still being done. Using multiple divisions within a holding company to shift work, assets and nullify union influence (TSA/*************************s, Mesa/Freedom).....still being done today. Executives running off with fortunes while rank and file airline employees take massive cuts or lose their jobs alltogether...still being done today. Agreeing to deals with employees to "save the company" then coming back to take even more for the same reason....still being done today. Taking money from employees and then using the savings to sell cheaper tickets to gain market share at the expense of actual debt reduction and or cash conservation.....still being done. Thinking that to be the best you need to be the biggest and allowing companies to become so big they are unmanagable.....still being done prior to 9/11 anyway. Merging smaller money-losing companies together to make larger money-losing companies (America West/Usairways)....still being done.
The bottom line is that when airlines are losing money rapidly and in danger of failure the management teams have the upper hand and will do whatever they can get away with in order to force cost cuts. Lorenzo wasn't really any less honorable than the people who run UAL, NWA, DAL or UsAirways today; he just had less tact and wasn't as good at PR.
How is what Frank Lorenzo did all that much different from what is going on in the industry today? Using the Bankruptcy process to ravage union contracts and screw every creditor you owe money to...still being done. Forcing strikes and using scabs to run the company (NWA mechanics)...... still being done. Transfering work to lower cost providers (subcontractors for lots of things and movement of flying from majors to regionals and from more expensive regioanals to cheaper ones).....still being done. Using multiple divisions within a holding company to shift work, assets and nullify union influence (TSA/*************************s, Mesa/Freedom).....still being done today. Executives running off with fortunes while rank and file airline employees take massive cuts or lose their jobs alltogether...still being done today. Agreeing to deals with employees to "save the company" then coming back to take even more for the same reason....still being done today. Taking money from employees and then using the savings to sell cheaper tickets to gain market share at the expense of actual debt reduction and or cash conservation.....still being done. Thinking that to be the best you need to be the biggest and allowing companies to become so big they are unmanagable.....still being done prior to 9/11 anyway. Merging smaller money-losing companies together to make larger money-losing companies (America West/Usairways)....still being done.
The bottom line is that when airlines are losing money rapidly and in danger of failure the management teams have the upper hand and will do whatever they can get away with in order to force cost cuts. Lorenzo wasn't really any less honorable than the people who run UAL, NWA, DAL or UsAirways today; he just had less tact and wasn't as good at PR.
