us airways ceo resigns

[beech1900kid]

from yahoo.......


US Airways Announces the Resignation of David Siegel as President and Chief Executive Officer
Monday April 19, 5:35 pm ET
Board of Directors Names Bruce Lakefield Chief Executive


ARLINGTON, Va., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The US Airways Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: UAIR - News) Board of Directors today announced the resignation of President and Chief Executive Officer David N. Siegel, effective immediately.
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Bruce R. Lakefield, chairman of the Board of Directors' Finance and Strategy, and Human Resources committees has been named the chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Siegel said his decision to exercise his contractual rights to resign reflects a "belief that my leaving is in the best interests of the company, as management seeks to secure the necessary changes to make the airline competitive."

"I have great affection for the airline and its outstanding employees, and I want to see the company succeed. Unfortunately, the past two years have been difficult for all of us, and I believe our ability to move forward and make additional changes require a change in leadership," Siegel said. "I hope that today's announcement is the first step in a healing process that will enable the company to complete its restructuring."

Dr. David G. Bronner, US Airways chairman, complimented Siegel's leadership of the company. "Dave has done an admirable job leading the company through a critical period, securing necessary cost cuts and new financing, making the tough decisions that needed to be made in a restructuring, and building a business plan that has put the company back on the right path. We accept his resignation with regret, but share his view that this should be the start of a healing process for labor and management."

"The Board is fully committed to seeing this company thrive, but there are many difficult decisions that still confront the Board, the management team, and the employees," said Bronner. "Bruce Lakefield is an experienced and seasoned executive who will work tirelessly for the airline and its customers, business partners and financial backers, employees and shareholders. They all should embrace the fact that we recognize that the airline marketplace has changed dramatically, and that we are confronting those realities, rather than hoping they will go away."

Lakefield, 60, served as chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers International from 1995 to 1999, when he retired. He has served as a senior advisor to the Investment Policy Committee of HGK Asset Management since 2000, and also serves as a non-executive director of Constellation Corp., PLC.

 

[slick1]

What does this mean???

C.E.O.s of publicly held companies don't get to be C.E.O.s by caring about their fellow employees. They get there by caring about THEMSELVES! The ego of a C.E.O. is tremendous.

So what does it mean when a C.E.O. resigns, without announcing that he/she has accepted an equally challenging position at another company? From my observations, it spells bankruptcy for the company. For those of you keeping score, that would twice in three years for USAir.

Cases in point; Kmart. The CEO bailed out just before Kmart filed for bankruptcy protection.

As I recall, the previous CEO of US Air (Gangwall???) resigned as a precedent to US Air's bankruptcy filing.

Didn't United's CEO resign prior to their bankruptcy?

And, although embroiled in other controversies, Don Carty resigned prior to AA's decision (and concessions) to stave-off bankruptcy.

The ego of a CEO does not afford them the courage or dignity to remain in place and accept responsibility for failing its customers, employees, and blessed stockholders. Their egos will not allow them to be associated with a failing company, although they, themselves were, at least partially responsible for leading the company to the brink of insolvency. When the ship is sinking, they try to distance themselves from their failings. The stigma is more than their resume can bear. So they bail out, leaving the ship to sink without its captain. Their greed and ruthless centeristness heavily outweigh their sense of shame, ability to accept blame, and responsibility to "go down fighting".

The upper management positions in Corporate America are filled with these self-serving, self-righteous, and selfish whorz, (intentional misspelling), who hold one thing above all else, and at the expense of those around them: their image.

Here's another scary thought: the corporate boards of directors decide to who to hire (or fire) as the corporation’s CEO. And who are these members of the boards of directors? Primarily, they're CEOs (or former CEOs) from other corporations. Does incompetence breed incompetence? Can USAir survive another bankruptcy filing?

 

[acaTerry]

Brilliant buddy. You said it like it is....problem is that too many people do not see a problem with it. Probably b/c they never worked under someone like this.
Used to be that an airline manager only got in by working their way up in the airline. Too bad it aint like that anymore. Now it's just a matter of working there as a manager 5 years and leaving with as much as you can.
Corporate America. Beautiful.

 

[slick1]

I don't know about "brilliant", but I appreciate the complement. I was just venting.

I worked in Corporate America for 16 years. I can spot the "happy-shiney", back slapping, hand-shaking, buzz-word-using fraud three floors away. They make me ill. They don't want the TRUTH and they don't want a dose of reality. They don't like my kind,....but they need me.......someone to do the work, while they miander about spewing the hottest corporate buzz words loud enough for their superiors to hear and so fakingly giggling over $hit that's not remotely funny.

While I'm venting, (and I appreciate you listening) allow me to point out another failing of corporate america. When the "happy-shiney" back slapper gets promoted to a position where he/she becomes responsible for hiring and promoting others........are we to believe that he/she is going to hire/promote people who are smart enough, (or experienced enough) to expose the "happy-shiney's" inadequacies? I think not. He/she will promote fellow bone-heads, thereby eliminating the chance that the "happy-shiney" will be exposed for the fraud that he/she is.

So what's all this have to do with the world of aviation? It's just a word to the wise. Know who's running the company. Don't argue with them. They don't want to hear it and you'll be marked as a "trouble-maker". Do what's right for yourself, your company, and your customers. Sure, the CEO will get all the credit for your job-done-well, but who cares. Live with the peace of mind knowing that you're doing what's right. And if the ship is going to sink, plan accordingly. Take part in your companies 401k, do your job, and don't bad-mouth the company outside of ranks.