American expected to have the largest profit

[WorldTraveler]

and I was replying to this post.
 

Great!

More than enough $$$ to go around for all of us. I'll leave the quibbling about being "biggest and/or best" to the foamers; I'm just happy that as rank and file workers, we're all (for the most part) under sunnier skies than we were just a few short years ago.

the unfortunately reality is that some are enjoying sunnier skies than others and compensation for AA employees is DOWN year over year and will remain that way for several years.

That isn't poking anything at anybody-... that is just the cycle of BK. Some carriers are thru with it and some recognized that enhancing, not reducing profit sharing, was better for the long-term well-being of employees and the company.

Future years will provide a great platform to determine if that decision was right. WN has long thought so and their employees are fiercely - and rightly - loyal to the company.

The INDUSTRY is stronger and it might feel better to work for a company that is making money but as has been noted by several AA employees, Parker has no incentive to open any CBAs or increase pay just to integrate workgroups.

Given that he kept US/HP workers separate for years, UA has done the same thing, and Parker made long-term promises to labor in order to get the merger thru, the chances are very unlikely that most AA or US employees will share in AA's success including via profit sharing beyond the CBAs they already have.

I'm sorry if that is uncomfortable for some to hear but you and others are free to check back in several years and see if it isn't exactly what has taken place.


I do wish AA and its people well.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Glenn. This is the first time I have posted from my phone. It does not give me the proper format as it would when quoting. I guess the phone isn't all that smart. As for WT, ignoring him would make him feel like he's right spewing all his DL crap. I guess I not the type of person to shy away from a debate or argument.

 
No problem MM. I don't shy away from debate either. There is no debating with that one. DL good, all else bad, not as bad, or soon to be worse, than DL.
 
We had guy like him at my previous work location. His nickname was "Transmit Only"!

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, DL is not all good and everyone else bad.

what you and others can't accept is that DL went first into the megamerger cycle, executed virtually flawlessly, and is reaping the benefits of a finished deal that is now providing the platform for them to do things that would not have been possible for either DL or NW as standalone airlines.

it doesn't mean that others won't follow - WN appears ready to put its merger behind it and reap significant benefits of its merger, while UA is much further behind but finally beginning to address problems which should have been done years ago.

it says nothing negative about AA that they are just beginning the process of merging and gaining benefits from a competitive standpoint -and not just by eliminating the competition that existed between AA and US. Some people seem to expect that AA should be at the same place that other carriers that went thru mergers and restructuring years ago but that is quite likely NOT to be the case.

I have said multiple times that I expect that AA will be a strong airline in time; but as AA employees have noted, the process will take years and it is far from clear that AA people will benefit from the success of the company. Given that AA is the only one of the big 4 US airlines to not have widespread profit sharing, the implications of the company's success on employee engagement could be significant.

It could also be a non-issue.

Time will tell.

WN for one has long believed that profit sharing has been a key part of keeping its employees engaged.

there will be some AA people who will want to rejoice in the company's success regardless of whether they benefit or not and that is their choice.

 

[eolesen]

We had guy like him at my previous work location. His nickname was "Transmit Only"!

Classic. Gotta remember that one.

 

[silverbird007]

The APFA decided we didn't need profit sharing I guess. The one time stock award was not too bad considering I only average about 50 hours a month, I sold at $36 and it was in the 5 figures. (low 5 figures but still pretty good) So it did make up for the lack of profit sharing over the last few years. I know a couple of DL flight attendants and they were surprised at how much the stock award was. I think it was about equal to what their profit sharing was over the last 5 or 6 years. Anyway no matter what I wouldn't change places with either one of them. When I land in MIA I know im going home, they can get reassigned to do a turn or even another day added to their trip. Rarely happens at AA, I think its happened to me twice in 16 years and both times I was on reserve, I guess you cant have it all!

 

[comatose]

Now would be a good time to negotiate a CBA, wouldn't it?

Well I don't know about that. Look at what union we have and then make that statement.
 
The TWU just gave profit sharing away for what a 3 or 4 % wage increase and wasn't even voted for by the membership.
 
Is that the negotiations or lack thereof your referring to?

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Well I don't know about that. Look at what union we have and then make that statement.
 
The TWU just gave profit sharing away for what a 3 or 4 % wage increase and wasn't even voted for by the membership.
 
Is that the negotiations or lack thereof your referring to?

If you read another post, you will see that i refer to a good time to rid yourself of the twu.

It would be a good time for a new union to negotiate a CBA.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

We had guy like him at my previous work location. His nickname was "Transmit Only"!

 

Classic. Gotta remember that one.

 
Yeah, that was pretty good.

 

[WorldTraveler]

The APFA decided we didn't need profit sharing I guess. The one time stock award was not too bad considering I only average about 50 hours a month, I sold at $36 and it was in the 5 figures. (low 5 figures but still pretty good) So it did make up for the lack of profit sharing over the last few years. I know a couple of DL flight attendants and they were surprised at how much the stock award was. I think it was about equal to what their profit sharing was over the last 5 or 6 years. Anyway no matter what I wouldn't change places with either one of them. When I land in MIA I know im going home, they can get reassigned to do a turn or even another day added to their trip. Rarely happens at AA, I think its happened to me twice in 16 years and both times I was on reserve, I guess you cant have it all!

employees at every other carrier including DL also received stock awards as part of the bankruptcy settlement process - the same way you got them - at the time those carriers emerged from BK.

Employees of carriers including DL, UA, and WN bet profit sharing regardless of and on top of whatever happened in BK.

DL FAs from int'l flights (I presume the majority of the MIA base) do not get reassigned on return to base.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

You do realize the flight attendants are in the middle of contract negotiations, right?
 
Yes, it is indeed a great time to be negotiating a CBA.
 
And I can assure you, profit sharing will be included in the joint CBA.

 

[WorldTraveler]

how much are you willing to pay for it? how many people are you willing for AA to lay off?


Did you look at AAL's total headcount compared to DL and UA in the latest quarterly report and see that AA still has tens of thousands more employees for an airline that is nowhere near proportionately larger?

Parker knows how to run the business but he also is a master at keeping employee pay down.

are you as certain as to when this JCBA will be implemented?

 

[dfw gen]

go away please.

 

[WorldTraveler]

because you don't want to hear that AA has tens of thousands of more employees than other airlines its size?

sorry, but those are facts that were known and were pointed out to you before the merger was ever consummated.

now you want compensation comparable to what other airlines have but you haven't told me how you are going to reduce the size of the payroll.

you can't have both.

 

[MetalMover]

how much are you willing to pay for it? how many people are you willing for AA to lay off?


Did you look at AAL's total headcount compared to DL and UA in the latest quarterly report and see that AA still has tens of thousands more employees for an airline that is nowhere near proportionately larger?

Parker knows how to run the business but he also is a master at keeping employee pay down.

are you as certain as to when this JCBA will be implemented?

Once again you can't help yourself by mentioning DL....DL and UA in this case. 
Who cares what our headcount is compared to others? Does anyone care what Ford's headcount is compared to GM and Chrylser?

 

[WorldTraveler]

because they share the same industry and must have comparable costs.

go read the profit sharing article that was just posted.

Why can't you and others recognize that you aren't going to get what you want just because you work for AA?

you will get what is comparable with the industry in which you work.

For now, AA's total labor expenses are not significantly different from DL and UA, AA's chief competitors, as a percentage of expenses and yet AA achieves that thru lower salaries but more people.

You can't deal with the lack of profit sharing and low salaries until you deal with the excess headcount.

AA is simply not going to spend more of its revenue on salaries and benefits than its peers in the industry.