spinproof
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- Oct 19, 2002
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All that was missing was his dressing in a Santa suit and ringing a bell while asking for pilot concessions.........
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Gerald "Jerry" Grinstein is not exactly the anti-Leo, but the man who is about to take over the reins of Delta Air Lines from Leo Mullin certainly has a different persona.
Dressed in a blazer and sweater vest, and sipping hot tea to soothe his throat after taking questions from employees during a tour of the airline's Cincinnati hub last week, Grinstein, 71, discussed his expectations for the new job with Enquirer reporter James Pilcher.
Grinstein was chief executive officer of Western Airlines when the carrier was sold to Delta in 1987. He then joined Delta's board of directors. On Jan. 1, he will become Delta's CEO.
While smiling and joking, he also was very serious about the situation confronting the nation's No. 3 airline.
Resolving the issues is crucial for the airline and for the economy of Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is Delta's second largest hub. Delta employs 4,000 workers locally and its subsidiary, regional carrier Comair, employs another 4,000.
Question: Why are you doing this at your age? Why not stay retired and live in Seattle instead of taking over a troubled company and moving across the country to Atlanta?
Answer: There are a couple of things that I have of course wrestled with about that.
One of those is: If not me, who?
We needed to do something quickly, with Leo saying he was set to retire. And we could not afford a long pause and have a search. We have to keep moving and we have to move fast.
And the second answer is that we would've had to go outside and recruit somebody and pay them a lot of money, which would have compromised their ability to negotiate (with employees).
I think there was another one from the board's perspective. The board felt they needed someone from the inside who had faced up to a lot of these issues, both strategic and policy.
And after 16 years on the board, I have developed an understanding of the values and ethics of this company, what it has been and what we hope to make it again.
It was the furthest thing from my mind. Look, I loved the life I was living, and I was doing things that I got lots of satisfaction out of. All my family was in the Northwest, and moving to Atlanta, well, that's true moving. The greatest sacrifice is being made by my wife. She's the one who deserves sainthood.
Question: So you think that the money and pay issue was becoming a factor with Mullin and the pilots?
Answer: I feel that Leo believed, and I believe, that ultimately the pilots' decision will come down to the condition of the company and what it means to their careers. But the pay issue certainly was a distraction that the pilots had and it may have been a continuing issue.
Question: What is your sense of the pilots' mood and willingness to take a deep pay cut, given your brief meetings with them?
Answer: The only way in the final analysis that we can do this is if we are successful communicating to the pilots what condition the company is in and what their role has to be in our recovery.
Beyond that, I don't think that any agreement can be negotiated publicly, so I'm going to keep it private and not get into any details.
Still, I think that most of the pilots are 45-46 and are looking forward to flying for another 14-15 years, and they have a great stake in the outcome of the discussion. My task is to explain in a credible way what level of concessions has to be made.
Question: Why are you traveling around the Delta system just two weeks before you take over?
Answer: What you see as a person operating something with your hands directly on it is not what you see as a director.
To get another view of it, I am a recovering lawyer, and I've always felt that one needs to get a sense of the flesh and blood of people. There are things that I can learn that I can't get out of surveys about morale and attitude, things you can get from body English, eye contact and tone of voice.
For example, I just learned that we are losing market share on the (East Coast) Shuttle. That is a major issue, but I didn't know about it on the board.
Question: What kind of management style can employees expect?
Answer: My own view of this, especially in companies that out of necessity are highly centralized, is that there is a bunker mentality. People out on the front lines feel that no one cares about them at headquarters.
So one of my jobs is to go out and talk to as many people as I can. I learn when I listen to them, and those things are just as important as the stats that come across the desk.
They will see me in the field, and I expect all that from all who work in management. You can't lock yourself away and look at stats; you have to look at the flesh and blood.
Question: What are the top five issues for Delta in 2004?
Answer: Number one has to be to get pilot costs down to the level that helps make us competitive.
Two has to be to repair the balance sheet - we are at approximately 100 percent debt. We can get though the next up cycle, but the next down cycle could be very ugly.
Three is lifting the morale of the forces and providing them tools for staying in touch and communicating effectively.
Four is continuing the profit improvement program. The company calls it an initiative, but I call it imperative.
And five is more exploration of technology.
---
E-mail [email protected]
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Gerald "Jerry" Grinstein is not exactly the anti-Leo, but the man who is about to take over the reins of Delta Air Lines from Leo Mullin certainly has a different persona.
Dressed in a blazer and sweater vest, and sipping hot tea to soothe his throat after taking questions from employees during a tour of the airline's Cincinnati hub last week, Grinstein, 71, discussed his expectations for the new job with Enquirer reporter James Pilcher.
Grinstein was chief executive officer of Western Airlines when the carrier was sold to Delta in 1987. He then joined Delta's board of directors. On Jan. 1, he will become Delta's CEO.
While smiling and joking, he also was very serious about the situation confronting the nation's No. 3 airline.
Resolving the issues is crucial for the airline and for the economy of Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is Delta's second largest hub. Delta employs 4,000 workers locally and its subsidiary, regional carrier Comair, employs another 4,000.
Question: Why are you doing this at your age? Why not stay retired and live in Seattle instead of taking over a troubled company and moving across the country to Atlanta?
Answer: There are a couple of things that I have of course wrestled with about that.
One of those is: If not me, who?
We needed to do something quickly, with Leo saying he was set to retire. And we could not afford a long pause and have a search. We have to keep moving and we have to move fast.
And the second answer is that we would've had to go outside and recruit somebody and pay them a lot of money, which would have compromised their ability to negotiate (with employees).
I think there was another one from the board's perspective. The board felt they needed someone from the inside who had faced up to a lot of these issues, both strategic and policy.
And after 16 years on the board, I have developed an understanding of the values and ethics of this company, what it has been and what we hope to make it again.
It was the furthest thing from my mind. Look, I loved the life I was living, and I was doing things that I got lots of satisfaction out of. All my family was in the Northwest, and moving to Atlanta, well, that's true moving. The greatest sacrifice is being made by my wife. She's the one who deserves sainthood.
Question: So you think that the money and pay issue was becoming a factor with Mullin and the pilots?
Answer: I feel that Leo believed, and I believe, that ultimately the pilots' decision will come down to the condition of the company and what it means to their careers. But the pay issue certainly was a distraction that the pilots had and it may have been a continuing issue.
Question: What is your sense of the pilots' mood and willingness to take a deep pay cut, given your brief meetings with them?
Answer: The only way in the final analysis that we can do this is if we are successful communicating to the pilots what condition the company is in and what their role has to be in our recovery.
Beyond that, I don't think that any agreement can be negotiated publicly, so I'm going to keep it private and not get into any details.
Still, I think that most of the pilots are 45-46 and are looking forward to flying for another 14-15 years, and they have a great stake in the outcome of the discussion. My task is to explain in a credible way what level of concessions has to be made.
Question: Why are you traveling around the Delta system just two weeks before you take over?
Answer: What you see as a person operating something with your hands directly on it is not what you see as a director.
To get another view of it, I am a recovering lawyer, and I've always felt that one needs to get a sense of the flesh and blood of people. There are things that I can learn that I can't get out of surveys about morale and attitude, things you can get from body English, eye contact and tone of voice.
For example, I just learned that we are losing market share on the (East Coast) Shuttle. That is a major issue, but I didn't know about it on the board.
Question: What kind of management style can employees expect?
Answer: My own view of this, especially in companies that out of necessity are highly centralized, is that there is a bunker mentality. People out on the front lines feel that no one cares about them at headquarters.
So one of my jobs is to go out and talk to as many people as I can. I learn when I listen to them, and those things are just as important as the stats that come across the desk.
They will see me in the field, and I expect all that from all who work in management. You can't lock yourself away and look at stats; you have to look at the flesh and blood.
Question: What are the top five issues for Delta in 2004?
Answer: Number one has to be to get pilot costs down to the level that helps make us competitive.
Two has to be to repair the balance sheet - we are at approximately 100 percent debt. We can get though the next up cycle, but the next down cycle could be very ugly.
Three is lifting the morale of the forces and providing them tools for staying in touch and communicating effectively.
Four is continuing the profit improvement program. The company calls it an initiative, but I call it imperative.
And five is more exploration of technology.
---
E-mail [email protected]
