NY Times UAL story(4 postings)

[nimtz]

Boy did those pilots spit on any old people and kick a few babies while heading down the jetways. I'm like to see both sides of the story, but there some bs that's just too much for me espcially concerning Goodwin's days. Important things left out or glazed over:
1) UAL did not negotiate in good faith with ALPA before or during the summer of 2000 and at the same time announced the US Air deal leading to
2) The pilots following their contract to the letter. Blame managment for not even being remotely prepared for this.
3) How about the 50 million wasted for cutting the US Air deal?

UAL is at heart a great company. The problem is that managment has stunk since before Carlson. All that company needs is someone to come in and focus on the core business and work with the employee group. Stop looking into mergers or business jet divisions. Look at what happend at CAL. Gordo said well let's move people from Point A to B as safely and comfortably as possible, while talking straight to the employee group (well not as much now). Results are the heardled come back we all hear about. If anything remotely close to that turn around happened at UAL then it would be the 500 lbs guerilla again. It will take effort and some pain (that could be right now), but it will happen.

 

[trueblue]

oops

Next time I'll hit refresh before recommending a book that others had already taken the time to recommend before me. sorry.

 

[publisher]

forget

Overall, this was a very good article in that it gives a perspective not always prevelent.

Most people involved in the operation of an airline have no vision as to how the business of airlines is looked on by outsiders or how they perform in relation to other businesses.

I happened to have come into this business later in life and I can assure you that the public company that I ran was not like this. Our board would have fired everyone and started again. The ROI and ROA are horrific. The profit margin as a percentage to sales, non existant. Grocery stores are the only business I know with miniscule profit percentages.

In order to have a successful labor management relations, there must be trust between parties. Part of that comes from each side understanding the others business perspective and keeping personalities out of it.

Charles Bryan, I think it was, of the IAM, got into a personal battle that took, as much as anyother thing, Eastern to its demise.

The lesson here is that the basic foundation of these businesses has to some extent been lost inb a sea of verbage that is counter productive and that the patient may die while eveyone is fighting over the approach to take for a cure.

 

[Jeff G]

publisher,

Don't forget that it was personal for Frank Lorenzo as well. His desire to break the unions was so strong that he allowed his plan to do so continue even when it would have destroyed the company in the process. In the end, his war on the unions did fatal damage that could not be recovered from. Yes, Charlie Bryan was unreasonable at times, but he didn't run the company into the ground either. Be fair.

 

[publisher]

Maybe

It may have been personal for him too so I would not argue that. I would argue however that Frank Lorenzo did not really run Eastern down. Frank Borman would get more of my vote on that.

By the time Frank showed up, I think that he was pretty amazed at the hostility when he viewed himself as a savior trying to save this really screwed up carrier. Lorenzo looked at this like just another business. Icahn pretty much the same. In a way, my point is that it is not like or judged like other businesses so many who come into management, fail at it.

If it was treated like other businesses , there would be no shareholders.

 

[Huck]

Nor employees. We don't all make 300k a year!. I spend ~200 nights a year away from home, and make less than my brother-in-law the Mr. Goodwrench mechanic. By any reasonable cost/benefit analysis, I would have left the profession a long time ago. There is irrationality in many places in this business.

 

[Boz]

I really like the fact that this article points out top pay for the 400 at 300K. Do you have all have any idea what % of UAL that is? All I can say is that out of the 10,000+ guys flying UAL jets is that it ain't a whole lot of us