Good Airline CEO

[~~~^~~~]

I would say that Leo Mullin is a top notch CEO. He is an aviation leader, especially being that his corporate background was not in aviation. He is definitely a take charge person. He and his upper management personel are keeping Delta on top. Delta will survive through the uncertain times ahead mostly because of Mr. Mullin. Delta's shareholders trust him.

I'm not so certain. ALPA absolutely rolled him on the last contract (refer to the Wall Street Journal article contrasting Mullin and Giambusso). Leo Mullin has signed off on the "portfolio of carriers" concept to take advantage of ALPA's discriminatory and arbitrary treatment of "regional" pilots. Obviously, some of what Mullins has signed off on is not a long term solution.
Before contract 2000 was signed, I wrote on this board's predecessor, a quote from a recent Delta Chief Pilot. He said that Delta would never see a profit under this contract and that he doubted the Delta pilots would ever see their fourth year pay figure.
Delta has to eventually make a profit from their core business. The fact that Delta Technical Operations, ASA and sometimes Comair contribute to the Company's bottom line is not enough. Mullins and the board do not reveal the operating numbers for the Connection business units in an effort to obsfucate the painful truth that the core business is in serious trouble.
Delta's leadership has made bad calls on the labor issues, which are the airlines most controllable expense. Mullins feared the Delta pilots might strike, so he rolled. He thought the Comair pilots were not wealthy enough to take a strike and he held his ground. Both calls were incorrect. The Comair strike cost over $350,000.00 per pilot - obviously not a pragmatic business decision when the average Comair pilot only makes around $50K a year.
There is also the issue of loyalty. Delta never misses the opportunity to remind ASA and Comair that we are not Delta (only our profits are Delta). Now some one tell me why ASA and Comair employees would want to sacrifice anything to support a company that we are not a part of?
It is a lot like the slaves on the Plantation. Our profits keep it going, but we are not to be invited into the house. It is not a long term business model - all of this in my humble opinion.

 

[FL000]

IFF,

I don't know how much of your post is truth and how much is crew lounge BS, but I'll just ask this: who of the big 3 is in the best cash position in these down times? Who has the best balance sheet?

CEOs have but one goal, to maximize the company's profits. They couldn't care less about coddling us or any other unionized group. Accepting that given, I'll take Leo over these other Bethu...uhhh...buffoons any day of the week.

The proletariat/Marxist drumbeating in the industry is sometimes scary.

 

[publisher]

ceo

Often the times and the direction along with the stage that a company is in are key elements in what type CEO will be effective.

Herb at SWA became the airline. He had personality and so did the airline. He was irreverent to the traditional carriers and that was what was required to move the start up to its current position.

In the case of Leo Mullin, you have an established huge carrier. It may take more like a good administrator than the type of Herb personality.

There are so many factors that many times it is just the right person at the right moment who may not be great at some other time or point.

 

[~~~^~~~]

FL000:

The answer to your question is none. Look up the numbers for LUV and AAI. They are profitable. I look at current trends, not historical performance. Delta benefited from Ron Allen's draconian measures, that were applied during an expansive market bubble. However, what Ron Allen achieved carried a price in employee moral and loyalty. Now Mullins is faced with paying that price, plus paying the money he spent to buy labor peace in 2000.

By the way, do you see any reason Leo should be paying his former employer (McKinsey & Co) millions to ride around on LUV and AAI to see what they are doing right? Is there any re-organization that McKinsey and Co has participated in that has worked? Those snot eating, bed wetting, Harvard pukes sure killed State Farm Insurance Co. Remember them, they used to be the most profitable and largest personal insurer in the history of mankind.

So do you like the portfolio of carriers concept and the plan to minimize Delta's core bsuiness? Pan Am survived as long as it did by diversification, maybe that is all that can be done when mainline arrogance makes it impossible to run the core business unit profitably.

BTW, I'm a practicing libertarian anarchist. Pretty far "from the each according to his ability, to each according to his need" speech. You will not find many of us econ folks touting socialism. In fact McKinsey & Co. requested that I interview with them, an opportunity that I turned down because I felt the quality of their product was garbage.

 

[WileE]

Another example of the worst.

Jonathan Orenstein would be another example of the worst type of CEO to have running your company. The man is pure corporate raider with no management skills whatsoever. He is good at taking a failing company and turning it around, but cannot maintain it in any way shape or fashion. His total style of managment is that the employees are the enemy and he will go out of the way to screw them out of their last dollar.

It is like this man is willing to let the entire company go down the tubes rather than make one concession or admit that he might be wrong. As long as his own personally net worth goes up by a dollar, he would sell out his own mother in a heartbeat.

The employees of his companies have been screwed so many times, there is a prevailing attitude of not doing one iota extra to help the company, because you are only going to get bent over in return the next day.

 

[surplus1]

The proletariat/Marxist drumbeating in the industry is sometimes scary.

For those of us that are more intellectually challenged (like me) would you care to be more specific and translate what exactly you mean by that sentence?

 

[FL000]

Prof,

I'm aware of Southwest's and AirTran's profitability, which is why I shaved my point down to the "big 3". I know nothing about McKinsey and Co. or their relationship with State Farm. However, I don't see anything wrong with assessing the competitors' products for potential improvements using an objective outside source. Do you know exactly how much is being spent on McKinsey or what the ROI will be? Maybe Leo's past affiliation with them got us some perks we would not have gotten from another consultant. Who knows? I don't. Do you? I have contacted past employers about current business opportunities myself. If you know and trust those people, it's probably a good way to go. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Interesting that you would choose LUV and AAI as models of profitability. What's one thing those two have in common? Both pilot groups are self-represented.

Surplus,

I am just making reference to the "rise up" attitude of Marxists (a slight exaggeration of the haves vs. have nots cliché) who feel like their careers are so unfair and miserable. With all its imperfections, this lifestyle is the best I've been able to find. I won't be searching for another as long as the choice is mine.

 

[bobbysamd]

Mesa CEOs

I should have mentioned Ornstein and Larry Risley in my first post. I did work for Mesa briefly. It wasn't brief enough.

In all fairness, I never worked for Ornstein. Everything I've seen and read about him makes him sound to be Frank, Jr. I did work for Risley, before ALPA was certified. To say the least, lousy working conditions and bad-faith employee treatment. His lieutenants weren't any better.

 

[kilomike]

CEO

Herb Kelleher sums it all up as the perfect example of an excellent airline CEO. He is a leader who is funny, true, but he also EARNED the workers' respect.

Eventually I will have my own company, and I will be looking to Herb Kelleher as a role model for leadership.