15 Sky Chef employees busted at JFK for stealing minis from AA

[FWAAA]

Over a five year period, 15 Sky Chef employees stole as many as 500 bottles each every day from AA. Even worse, three private security guards were paid to look the other way. AA claims the theft ring may have cost it $20 million:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8807786

 

[Frank Szabo]

Over a five year period, 15 Sky Chef employees stole as many as 500 bottles each every day from AA. Even worse, three private security guards were paid to look the other way. AA claims the theft ring may have cost it $20 million:

http://abclocal.go.c...york&id=8807786

Yep - if the guards would do this for a little money and some booze, what would they do for a real bribe (or is that lobbying)?

I know - let's cut their pay!

 

[FWAAA]

I find it difficult to believe that AA didn't notice 2.3 million minis missing annually and that it went on for five years. Wonder if the ring was paying some people at AA who might have otherwise said "we're going thru a lot more booze at JFK than any other station. Wonder if someone is stealing it?"

 

[jimntx]

It's just like the catering employee theft ring at LGA several years ago. The company was blaming the f/as for the shortages--either giving it away or stealing it themselves. (And, I'm not saying that some of that was not going on.) Needless to say, no apology from the company was forthcoming after the ring was busted.

 

[AANOTOK]

three..two..one...some how the yes voters had to be involved while the TWU looked the other way!!

 

[FWAAA]

Here are two other articles with more details; apparently, they were stealing duty free merchandise as well, like cartons of smokes, perfumes and litre-sized bottles of booze:

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19525879/massive-mini-bottle-liquor-theft-at-jfk

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19525727/da-nyc-workers-stole-100000-tiny-booze-bottles

One glaring error by the local Fox station: Sky Chef is not a subsidiary and hasn't been since AA sold Sky Chef to LH many years back.

 

[eolesen]

Point of order... Sky Chefs wasn't sold to LH by AA -- it was spun off to Sky Chefs management with private equity backing from Onex in 1986; LSG started investing in them a few years later.

 

[xUT]

I find it difficult to believe that AA didn't notice 2.3 million minis missing annually and that it went on for five years. Wonder if the ring was paying some people at AA who might have otherwise said "we're going thru a lot more booze at JFK than any other station. Wonder if someone is stealing it?"

That's a good question. What is the accounting process that tracks sale and distribution of on board sales?
If JFK was the only one, then big red flags should have been raised. It could be that this is an endemic problem from the service and AA was just one of many being ripped off.
Or it could be that AA internal accounting process are pretty piss poor.
Hope we find out.
B) xUT

 

[dfw gen]

Off with there heads! Better yet promote to unamerican senior management sounds like they can run a pretty good scam....

 

[FWAAA]

Point of order... Sky Chefs wasn't sold to LH by AA -- it was spun off to Sky Chefs management with private equity backing from Onex in 1986; LSG started investing in them a few years later.

Oops - you're right. My bad.

On the internal controls - I always figured that the FAs counted the unsold/unconsumed alcohol and reported that inventory number to AA. Having some data of the inventory at the end of the flight would seemingly make it easy to compare against the much lower inventory number reported by Sky Chefs. Of course, as jimntx points out, that probably just makes the company accuse the FAs of theft. That would give the FAs an incentive to under-report inventory just in case some of it shrinks after the FAs leave the aircraft. And if nobody steals it, the FAs could always say - oops, must have missed a few. No harm, no foul.

 

[FA Mikey]

There is no inventory, per flight. AA picks a point when they count the carts over a week and verify when they are going through.

 

[Barfbag]

There is no inventory, per flight. AA picks a point when they count the carts over a week and verify when they are going through.

Point for you, there is no inventory.

AA would have to hire another company to just audit the minis ( shooters ) at every gate, every flight and still every destination. After all, you couldn't trust Sky Chefs, Inflight, Fleet or Maintenance to keep their hands out of the cookie jar. The cost for this service would be much more than the marked up retail price of the liquor as sold on board the flight, but if you figure out that AA buys these minis at around $.50 each it's not worth the effort.

A flight attendant that offers a friend or family member one free drink as a courtesy is just as guilty as the Sky Chefs guy stealing hundreds each day. A Fleet guy or even a Captain taking, " one for the road " is just as guilty too.

So these crooked Sky Chefs guys will be made an example of...but the booze still flows.

 

[Mach85ER]

Just add it to the maintenance fine, make it a even $200 Million.

Chump change when you're busy looting your employees. That's what you get when your so stupid to focus all your efforts on screwing your employees and the only thing you can remember in your pea brain is Willie Sutton's quote; "That's where the money is".


E, FWAAA, how about another inspirational leadership quote? It's been awhile.

 

[eolesen]

"Enjoy your blood money and your union-busting. We’ll see you in court, in the newspapers, and on the picket line."

-- Lloyd Hill

 

[LD3]

A flight attendant that offers a friend or family member one free drink as a courtesy is just as guilty as the Sky Chefs guy stealing hundreds each day.

So I take it you don't take care of an employee who is non reving?