After watching the video of his presentation, I kept asking myself: "Is this really the CEO of an airline?" He kept stammering and fumbling through his presentation, and all while using "cue" cards propped on the ground under the camera. "Clueless" is the optimum word that comes to mind. No wonder they seem so rudderless, THEY ARE!
The main concept of the presentation was the reduction of unit costs. U sits in the $.10/seat mile range while SWA and JBLU sits around $.06. In order to get to 6 cents to insure survival, Siegal needs (1) 2 cents from restructuring the airline, and (2) 2 cents from the employees. Operationally, they intend to:
- increased aircraft utilization (duh)
- more seats on each aircraft (with less legroom, of course, yah, that's smart)
- more efficient scheduling (something he should've already been doing)
- distribution costs
From the employees, he wants:
- productivity enhancements (rigs and work rules)
- pay reductions (rumored in the 25% range)
- reductions in benefits
As someone else mentioned, this all sounds fine, but attempting unit costs of six cents per mile simply will NOT happen at US Airways. JCMDave made no mention of Continental's unit costs, which are in the nine-cent neighborhood and keep in mind that Continental predicted being profitable this year were it not for the high fuel prices affecting the industry. He constantly blaimed Southwest for their plight, and interestingly looked closer to America West as the model they should emulate (hub carrier with similar fleet).
One important point he made was that 70% of US Airways' mainline flying is unprofitable (their average cost is $130/passenger, but their average ticket revenue is $115/passenger. You don't have to be launching stuff into space to read between these lines. MDA, MidAtlantic, or whatever you want to call it, is the future for U's mainline domestic operation (if GECAS doesn't pull the financing plug). And he also mentioned the "F" word (furloughs), saying there will be additional ones. Incredible! Great way to build the confidence in the troops. Overall, the presentation was very conceptual, with no real "plan" brought forth. Again, "clueless".
Some various Dave Siegel quotes:
"Sometimes you have to shrink first - you've got to prune the system to grow." (you've got to be kidding? Sure, this worked great the last time, Dave.)
"I also know that we need to change the culture." (just realized that, Dave? After 2 years on the job?)
"I'm personally committed to making sacrifices along with everybody else. I've done that and I'm willing to do that and I told Dr. Bronner - again a little speculation in the press - I've told him I'm willing to walk away from that multi-million dollar golden parachute that comes to me in April - I'm going to walk away from that and I'm committed to staying. And I also told him that I'm willing to accept the same kind of compensation, give me a new contract, that looks like how the CEOs of the other low-cost carriers get paid - pay me the same way - I want to do that. And I am prepared to lead this fight, I'm not going to cut and run. I'm prepared to lead this company and lead this fight against Southwest." (insert your own comment here)
"What we know now, unfortunately, is we can't deny what's happening with low-cost carriers." (double duh!)
I'm proud of my 15 years of service there, having worked in the training department and flown as Captain for a short time. I came across some of the finest people you can ever imagine. But I truly am embarassed by the man-child in charge at U, and after watching this video, I fear for the future of many fine professional aviators. Dave Siegel can't run an airline. That's more apparent than ever, now.
I do wish the pilot's of USAirways the best. The certainly deserve better than the hand dealt them.
Red
Maybe we can all be "successful competitors", all making wages around half of what they are today. The prospect makes me giddy with joy 
