When I posted this, I thought it would generate a little more discussion. Why? Before I answer that, let me give a little background to my answer....
There are those who point out that the world as we know it has dramatically shifted. Well, fair enough. Some also express the sentiment that it's a dark, frightening world out there - just be glad you've got a job, at whatever compensation level will allow the company to survive. And therein lies the rub. The thinking seems to be that all airlines are alike. If we (and by extension, all the network carriers) can't compete, it must be the employees - they're paid too much, they're not productive enough, there's too many of them. And often it's some other group of employees that haven't given enough.
Now, back to the question....
One would have thought that an airline of our size could be pretty nimble, especially when aided by a trip through bankruptcy court. Who would have thought that the world's biggest airline, without the benefit of bankruptcy, would be quicker on it's feet than us? Well, they have been. In one year, they have made more progress toward being competitive with the LCC's than we have in 1-1/2 years. And they didn't need a bankruptcy to do it.
I posted this article because it details quite a few of the 500 [yes, 500] changes they have made in the way they do business. While our management has been sitting back waiting for something (anything!!) to happen, they have been innovating, improvising, adapting. The result - they are getting within spitting distance of Southwest's costs.
They are not there yet, but they're still working on it. What is our management doing?
Jim
