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SWA MDW Meltdown

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Herb may still wander around HQ on occasion, but he's definitely not running the show. That's the purview of the beancounters now.
 
True dat. The luv is definitely gone now. We just need basic management in a VERY favorable business environment for airlines right now. Our current mgmt can't do that. Herb is gone and this is definitely Gary's airline. The guy just doesn't see past the numbers.
 
We had the same problem on the AirTran side when Joe left and was replaced with Bob. Joe was a scumbag, unlike Herb, but he at least knew how to run and grow an airline. Bob was just a bean counter, and he knew nothing of operations, marketing, etc. Gary seems to be just a slightly smarter version of him, unfortunately. He speaks the propaganda quite well about "LUV" and such, but at heart, all he knows is numbers. That's fine for a CFO. Not so much for a CEO and a leader.
 
He was a great CFO. He is definitely out of his depth trying to run an airline. He just does not understand a lot of the basics of how airlines work. The disconnect with this knowledge as well as his alienating virtually every labor group has caused countless problems. Every holiday season he or VDV poke the employees in the eye with threats of furlough and reminding them of the fact that each one of them is just a number on a spread sheet. It is such a stark contrast from Herb.
 
At Airtran, Mgt would walk out on the ramp and watch for about 30 mins. Fire 4 to 5 people on the spot that was dragging as@. Amazing how quickly the others fall in line. Rampers are upsat they are outsourcing at some locations. Like every airline out there.

But you can't get a 175 PAX jet and do a 45 minute turn. ITS impossible. That aircraft needs 1:15 on the ground. They need to go to all 45 min turns. Not every flight is going to go smooth and without some MX, 30 wheelchairs, weather. Its not hub and spoke so you cause that aircraft to be late all day and the spares and crewmembers aren't in other cities to help get back on time. This is not rocket science, but you wonder when they get 737-800 and schedule 30 minute turns=who is running the show. 757 at United and Delta are on the ground for at least an hour and half.

this is only my opinion!!!
 
scarlet said:
At Airtran, Mgt would walk out on the ramp and watch for about 30 mins. Fire 4 to 5 people on the spot that was dragging as@. Amazing how quickly the others fall in line. Rampers are upsat they are outsourcing at some locations. Like every airline out there.

But you can't get a 175 PAX jet and do a 45 minute turn. ITS impossible. That aircraft needs 1:15 on the ground. They need to go to all 45 min turns. Not every flight is going to go smooth and without some MX, 30 wheelchairs, weather. Its not hub and spoke so you cause that aircraft to be late all day and the spares and crewmembers aren't in other cities to help get back on time. This is not rocket science, but you wonder when they get 737-800 and schedule 30 minute turns=who is running the show. 757 at United and Delta are on the ground for at least an hour and half.

this is only my opinion!!!
Click to expand...

It's square pegs and round holes. A -700 doing strictly point to point, never passing through BWI, HOU, MDW can turn in 25 mins all day. This is the operating system that SWA makes money on. The effiency of schedule that allows them to run the operation using economy of force. But they aren't doing that kind of flying. And more importantly. They haven't admitted that they don't do that anymore. Once the "senior leadership" matches the operation to the flying schedule, things will run more smoothly.
 
Noserider76 said:
I hope for your sakes it changes. Hate to see bean counters ruin a great company. I think Herb said "take care of your employees and they'll take care of your customers".
Click to expand...

Yeah, except they gave dispatchers topped out FO money- that still pisses me off

Do THAT for every group and we're in trouble
 
PCL_128 said:
We had the same problem on the AirTran side when Joe left and was replaced with Bob. Joe was a scumbag, unlike Herb, but he at least knew how to run and grow an airline. Bob was just a bean counter, and he knew nothing of operations, marketing, etc. Gary seems to be just a slightly smarter version of him, unfortunately. He speaks the propaganda quite well about "LUV" and such, but at heart, all he knows is numbers. That's fine for a CFO. Not so much for a CEO and a leader.
Click to expand...

God if only swa ran just like air tran. Not just best practices, grow stronger - but you're calling for your old leaders back?? Really, you moron?

Excuse me. I critique Gary's leadership style. It's bland as a numbers guy. But remember a few things. First Plc, you fu<Kstick, Gk had every "numbers" excuse he could have ever needed to furlough in '09 and didn't and even had some senior swapa members and Wall Street pressuring him- he never got close to waivering then. What did your scumbag hero do?

We all place herb on a pedestal for power of personality. And me too. Wish I worked for him. He LED his people. I'll gladly follow him and sacrifice more than Gary has ever asked. But look at that exact quality. What are you asking for? - for the VAST MAJORITY of herb's tenure swa pilots were some of the lowest paid pilots in the majors- (stock options notwithstanding ) with much tougher schedules than we have-
For all of Gary's tenure we've been THE HIGHEST PAID IN CATEGORY, and often close to the highest paid pilots in the industry period. With great work rules and schedules.

I hate how the operation is running right now, and I give no excuse, but may want to think about some of that before you go asking for Joe to make his airline return.


Why do you LOVE working for such awful people Plc? I've asked that over and over.
Gulf Stream. Pinnacle. Air tran. And almost always at each company's lowest point. And never more upset than the thought of getting on the swapa contract. You're some level of sociopath, mixed with self loathing.
 
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Besides, check it- I'm making another $2k this min 3day turned jacked up 4day. Doubled my $$
That ain't all bad.
 
I didn't ask for any of our old leaders back, you stupid f#ck. Learn how to read, and get Gary's dick out of your mouth.
 
Wave, you just made a lightbulb turn on. I always thought PNCL was trying to fast track and missing the boat at every turn. I now realise that he is an ALPA guy. ALPA is most valuable to pilots under bad management. It all makes sense now. He has been searching for a trademark body of work to secure a spot in DC.

It explains the resume and the reason he has to resign now (which I still don't think he will do).
 
:rolleyes:
 
waveflyer said:
Why do you LOVE working for such awful people Plc? I've asked that over and over.
Gulf Stream. Pinnacle. Air tran. And almost always at each company's lowest point. And never more upset than the thought of getting on the swapa contract. You're some level of sociopath, mixed with self loathing.
Click to expand...



Breaking News . . . "Mother Theresa no longer running airlines". :rolleyes:

You want to start blaming guys for working at Pinnacle and AirTran? Wow. Maybe you ought to blame him for the year he was born, or learned to fly.

Sounds sort of like blaming the victim to me.

:laugh:
 
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Ty Webb said:
Breaking News . . . "Mother Theresa no longer running airlines". :rolleyes:

You want to start blaming guys for working at Pinnacle and AirTran? Wow. Maybe you ought to blame him for the year he was born, or learned to fly.

Sounds sort of like blaming the victim to me.

:laugh:
Click to expand...

We all live in glass houses, all of us have taken concessions at one time or another.....SWA was built on pilots working longer hours for lower pay and foregoing a retirement plan.
 
What the hell is your problem waveflyer? Why jump pcl 128's $hit? He was just pointing out the past at the tran and how that may translate to the MAJOR frickin issues we have going on here. After experiencing the unbelievable meltdown first hand, I have never felt so uneasy about our future here. Clearly, upper management is to blame for all of this.
 
Waveflyer is just the quintessential management kiss-ass. I wouldn't pay too much attention to him.
 
I never met a fat loser who wasn't trying to find some place to try and make a hero of himself. I think it comes from the lack of female company.

"ALPA is my Girlfriend" might be a more appropriate avatar.
 
Well, yeah, but in the strictest sense those syndromes do not apply to men who are wildly successful in their chosen fields. Besides, there are plenty of short or fat guys who aren't afflicted as such. It's just when they are, it is predictable.

Ever hear stories about those basement-dwelling nerds who put on superhero costumes and then go out in public and try to do good deeds? Of course, they're not stopping the Joker, or Lex Luther from a sinister plot for world domination, they are usually rescuing kittens out of trees or changing flat tires for little old ladies.

What happens when the superhero costume includes a set of epaulettes?

I'll let you fill in the blanks on that one.
 
livin'thesim said:
Well, yeah, but in the strictest sense those syndromes do not apply to men who are wildly successful in their chosen fields. Besides, there are plenty of short or fat guys who aren't afflicted as such. It's just when they are, it is predictable.
Click to expand...



What happens when the superhero costume includes a set of epaulettes?
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, not sure. Maybe, "you get to fly in tights"?

:laugh:
 
livin'thesim said:
Well, yeah, but in the strictest sense those syndromes do not apply to men who are wildly successful in their chosen fields. Besides, there are plenty of short or fat guys who aren't afflicted as such. It's just when they are, it is predictable.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute! Aren't we, as Major Airline Pilots, the epitome of "wildly successful in our chosen fields"? Does this mean our "vertically and/or horizontally challenged" brothers get a pass on the syndrome, or not?

This psychology stuff is tougher than I thought. :confused:


What happens when the superhero costume includes a set of epaulettes?
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, not sure. Maybe, "they get to fly in tights"?

:laugh:
 
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Daddy said:
Still have worst retirement "plan" of the majors
Click to expand...

True, it was interesting how SWA made a big PR deal that they had the "best 401K plan" While it's certainly debatle that their choices are better than anyone else's plan, they simply don't put as much in as other airlines do. I would think SWAPA would be raising hell about that.
 

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