Av8trxx
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2001
- Posts
- 225
Found this post from "Casper" on another board. A good read.
An excellent point from 'Plane Business Banter' by Holly Hegeman
"AMR Corporate Culture: The Real Enemy"
While management at the airline tells employees that they have to face large cuts in pay and changes in productivity, I see little evidence that management at the airline has changed its basic beliefs about what the airline is and how is should be run.
Now, reading through some of these things I am going to talk about, some of you may think some of these items are trivial. Some are. But take them as a group, and they are not so trivial. To the employees at the airline, they are important. To many, they represent the "old" way of doing business. To many, the continued exercise of many of these "perks" for higher level officers is a clear example of how management at the airline simply does not "get it," nor is it serious about changing the way in which it does business.
Officers and Vice-Presidents
Do you know how many officers there are at American Airlines? Take a guess.
It's more than twenty and less than sixty. How 'bout 51. Fifty-one, including some, such as Corporate Secretary Chuck Marlette, who have nothing to do with the actual day to day running of the airline. As one employee said to me, "Is it really necessary to have a vice-president for Europe?"
Leased Automobiles
Now, how many of those officers have a car, leased for them by the company? As far as I can tell, the majority of them. And how much do these cars cost the airline? I figure an average of $500 a month.
Parking
And what about parking at Centreport? Why is it that only the folks on top of the heap have numbered spaces, under cover? I know, classic Dilbert cartoon images here. At AMR, half of the ground floor of the parking garage is numbered space parking for VPs and sometimes their secretaries. Half of the second floor is apparently reserved for managing directors. Everyone else fights it out on a daily basis. Vice presidents also have free terminal garage parking at DFW. While this comes along with being the largest tenant, again at little cost, there's that pesky image of excess again. In times like these, perceptions rule. Contrast the parking situation at AMR, for its battalion of upper level executives to the one at Southwest Airlines. Know where the top executives park at Southwest? Out in the sun. Yep. Including Gary Kelly's red Porsche. Out there in the very hot Texas sun. Now, granted, at some point a few years ago, someone did run down to Wal-Mart and purchase a little metal carport cover for Herb's space, which Jim Parker has now inherited. Woo-hoo! But, you get my drift. There are no covered spots. There are no numbered spots. And leased automobiles paid for by the company? Not hardly.
Limos
I understand that once again, the members of the board of directors traveled in style from Centreport to the airport last month. All in black limos. All parked outside headquarters. Again, you think you are going to see a cadre of black limos outside the headquarters of Southwest Airlines? Or any number of other airlines I could list? No. Again, not a good visual at this point in time.
Reserved space personal travel
A perk only directors and above get at the airline, presumably on the belief that they get less time off. True to a point (few execs actually take a week of vacation, but instead take days here and there), but they could also pay for tickets to go confirmed space, just like the rest of the airline's employees who value their time and don't get a lot of time off. Plus, it applies to their kids and spouse. If a director's wife is traveling for fun, why isn't the same type of space available for her as is for the 777 captain or ramp service clerk? She's not the employee. They are.
Admirals Club memberships
Do you realize that American Airlines' employees cannot belong to the airlines' Admiral's Club? CR Smith apparently decreed way back when that employees couldn't belong to the club. That policy stands to this day. Unless you're a vice-president. Wouldn't want VP's or their spouses mingling with the masses you know. I couldn't believe it when I heard this was the case. This restriction needs to go and it needs to go now. Talk about a reminder of what serfdom was like in the middle ages.
Tax and Financial Planning Services - Free to all officers only.
Club Memberships
Could not track this down completely, but as best as I can tell, the company continues to pick up the tab for vice-presidential memberships at various private clubs including the University Club, La Cima Club, and Northwood Club. Maybe more.
And with 51 officers, we could be talking serious bucks here.
Conclusion
What does all of this have to do with American Airlines successfully navigating 2003? A great deal. For taken as a whole, these things represent an old way of thinking. An old way of managing a company. And certainly not the way a progressive, forward thinking company should function. It also represents a company that lacks innovative leadership. I've said before that the biggest disappointment when Don Carty took over as CEO was that he made no changes in personnel. None. Not a good sign. There was a great deal of dead wood and dated ways of thinking that needed to be weeded out. Still is. Bottom line: the management at American Airlines has to stop and creatively look at the company it has. How it runs. How it functions. And it has to figure out how to change it so that it is more efficient, more productiv -- so that employees will want to work there, and feel that they are an important part of the process. And yes, the airline also has to figure out how to make money. But see, here's the problem. The airline has very little time left -- it sat on its thumbs for almost two years, and certainly for the last year, trotting out the warm and fuzzy Carty employee PR campaign, but really doing little else.
My take? The airline is not going to survive this situation if it cannot 1) make drastic changes to the existing culture at the airline, as that very culture goes against the creation of the very type of airline the airline needs to become, and 2) the airline has to stop losing money after it figures out number one.
The clock is ticking.
An excellent point from 'Plane Business Banter' by Holly Hegeman
"AMR Corporate Culture: The Real Enemy"
While management at the airline tells employees that they have to face large cuts in pay and changes in productivity, I see little evidence that management at the airline has changed its basic beliefs about what the airline is and how is should be run.
Now, reading through some of these things I am going to talk about, some of you may think some of these items are trivial. Some are. But take them as a group, and they are not so trivial. To the employees at the airline, they are important. To many, they represent the "old" way of doing business. To many, the continued exercise of many of these "perks" for higher level officers is a clear example of how management at the airline simply does not "get it," nor is it serious about changing the way in which it does business.
Officers and Vice-Presidents
Do you know how many officers there are at American Airlines? Take a guess.
It's more than twenty and less than sixty. How 'bout 51. Fifty-one, including some, such as Corporate Secretary Chuck Marlette, who have nothing to do with the actual day to day running of the airline. As one employee said to me, "Is it really necessary to have a vice-president for Europe?"
Leased Automobiles
Now, how many of those officers have a car, leased for them by the company? As far as I can tell, the majority of them. And how much do these cars cost the airline? I figure an average of $500 a month.
Parking
And what about parking at Centreport? Why is it that only the folks on top of the heap have numbered spaces, under cover? I know, classic Dilbert cartoon images here. At AMR, half of the ground floor of the parking garage is numbered space parking for VPs and sometimes their secretaries. Half of the second floor is apparently reserved for managing directors. Everyone else fights it out on a daily basis. Vice presidents also have free terminal garage parking at DFW. While this comes along with being the largest tenant, again at little cost, there's that pesky image of excess again. In times like these, perceptions rule. Contrast the parking situation at AMR, for its battalion of upper level executives to the one at Southwest Airlines. Know where the top executives park at Southwest? Out in the sun. Yep. Including Gary Kelly's red Porsche. Out there in the very hot Texas sun. Now, granted, at some point a few years ago, someone did run down to Wal-Mart and purchase a little metal carport cover for Herb's space, which Jim Parker has now inherited. Woo-hoo! But, you get my drift. There are no covered spots. There are no numbered spots. And leased automobiles paid for by the company? Not hardly.
Limos
I understand that once again, the members of the board of directors traveled in style from Centreport to the airport last month. All in black limos. All parked outside headquarters. Again, you think you are going to see a cadre of black limos outside the headquarters of Southwest Airlines? Or any number of other airlines I could list? No. Again, not a good visual at this point in time.
Reserved space personal travel
A perk only directors and above get at the airline, presumably on the belief that they get less time off. True to a point (few execs actually take a week of vacation, but instead take days here and there), but they could also pay for tickets to go confirmed space, just like the rest of the airline's employees who value their time and don't get a lot of time off. Plus, it applies to their kids and spouse. If a director's wife is traveling for fun, why isn't the same type of space available for her as is for the 777 captain or ramp service clerk? She's not the employee. They are.
Admirals Club memberships
Do you realize that American Airlines' employees cannot belong to the airlines' Admiral's Club? CR Smith apparently decreed way back when that employees couldn't belong to the club. That policy stands to this day. Unless you're a vice-president. Wouldn't want VP's or their spouses mingling with the masses you know. I couldn't believe it when I heard this was the case. This restriction needs to go and it needs to go now. Talk about a reminder of what serfdom was like in the middle ages.
Tax and Financial Planning Services - Free to all officers only.
Club Memberships
Could not track this down completely, but as best as I can tell, the company continues to pick up the tab for vice-presidential memberships at various private clubs including the University Club, La Cima Club, and Northwood Club. Maybe more.
And with 51 officers, we could be talking serious bucks here.
Conclusion
What does all of this have to do with American Airlines successfully navigating 2003? A great deal. For taken as a whole, these things represent an old way of thinking. An old way of managing a company. And certainly not the way a progressive, forward thinking company should function. It also represents a company that lacks innovative leadership. I've said before that the biggest disappointment when Don Carty took over as CEO was that he made no changes in personnel. None. Not a good sign. There was a great deal of dead wood and dated ways of thinking that needed to be weeded out. Still is. Bottom line: the management at American Airlines has to stop and creatively look at the company it has. How it runs. How it functions. And it has to figure out how to change it so that it is more efficient, more productiv -- so that employees will want to work there, and feel that they are an important part of the process. And yes, the airline also has to figure out how to make money. But see, here's the problem. The airline has very little time left -- it sat on its thumbs for almost two years, and certainly for the last year, trotting out the warm and fuzzy Carty employee PR campaign, but really doing little else.
My take? The airline is not going to survive this situation if it cannot 1) make drastic changes to the existing culture at the airline, as that very culture goes against the creation of the very type of airline the airline needs to become, and 2) the airline has to stop losing money after it figures out number one.
The clock is ticking.
