Five years of Gerard Arpey

[FWflyer]

There's an article here with two takes on the first five years of Arpey, and it's also gotten some very interesting comments from both the labor and management side of things:

http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk/2...iews-of-ge.html

 

[WingNaPrayer]

Yeah yeah, more rhetoric, and I'm tired of it. AMR needs everything from new executive blood to an all new (no good old boys buddy system) board of directors, who are just as inept.

Only one person had the right comment on that article - that the top 100 managers have only one thing going for them - an exit strategy. They are ready to walk away, pockets filled and pensions protected, at a moments notice.

When you have that kind of rosey path ahead of you, you really don't give a rat's ass that the ship is sinking and you generally have no desire to improve it.

When what you'll get if the ship sinks is a million (340 million in this case) times better that what you get if it stays afloat, just how hard do you think the morons running American Airlines are working to make things better? Right now, she's just a paycheck and occasional bonus for the personal coffers.

Remember, and this is the american corporate way, for every nickel you see plunking into an executive's piggy bank, there is probably twice as much being shoveled out under the wife and kiddies names - which we can't see.

 

[TWU informer]

Basic Multi-Million Dollar Earning Consultant Hiring Clerk

 

[flyhigh]

Part of the CEO job is making the tough decisions. Typically, that means the ones that make the most people unhappy. Arpey has done that and the company is better for it. In a very "today" mindset, he has put AMR in a position to be there for tomorrow. Most people don't realize that he can't look at a lot of things the same way they do. An individual line employee only has to worry about their job and thier pay & benefits. The CEO has to do what it takes to preserve all those things and keep customers and shareholders happy. Yes, AA service isn't what it used to be, but neither is the price of fuel. Neither is the price of an airline ticket adjusted for inflation. Something has to give. It's easy to look back and say AA was better...so was the price of fuel and the price of a ticket. So were healthcare costs and a littany of other things. If you don't see those things and have to look at them as part of the pie, then they are of no consequence...unfortunately, Arpey does. He does look at those things and makes decisions that make AMR better. It's a tough business and it requires good people. Gerard has done things that have made some people in each constituency very unhappy. I think that a better measure...probably means everyone is having to compromise. Top people at AMR went without pay, not bonuses...PAY after 9/11. Does anybody look back at that and say anything. That was a good thing. Not much credit given there. He gets A LOT less than others in the industry who have destroyed the value of their company on top of employee morale and customer service. What is the yard stick being used here folks? This isn't shan-gri-la so it must be torture?

 

[Hopeful]

Part of the CEO job is making the tough decisions. Typically, that means the ones that make the most people unhappy. Arpey has done that and the company is better for it. In a very "today" mindset, he has put AMR in a position to be there for tomorrow. Most people don't realize that he can't look at a lot of things the same way they do. An individual line employee only has to worry about their job and thier pay & benefits. The CEO has to do what it takes to preserve all those things and keep customers and shareholders happy. Yes, AA service isn't what it used to be, but neither is the price of fuel. Neither is the price of an airline ticket adjusted for inflation. Something has to give. It's easy to look back and say AA was better...so was the price of fuel and the price of a ticket. So were healthcare costs and a littany of other things. If you don't see those things and have to look at them as part of the pie, then they are of no consequence...unfortunately, Arpey does. He does look at those things and makes decisions that make AMR better. It's a tough business and it requires good people. Gerard has done things that have made some people in each constituency very unhappy. I think that a better measure...probably means everyone is having to compromise. Top people at AMR went without pay, not bonuses...PAY after 9/11. Does anybody look back at that and say anything. That was a good thing. Not much credit given there. He gets A LOT less than others in the industry who have destroyed the value of their company on top of employee morale and customer service. What is the yard stick being used here folks? This isn't shan-gri-la so it must be torture?

I am going to repeat what I have said for quite some time: I DO NOT CARE WHAT A CEO OR ANY OTHER EXECUTIVE EARNS!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT AT AA, THE EMPLOYEES WERE RAPED AND HAVE NOT SHARED IN ANY GAIN, JUST PAIN!

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

Even though we caught CARTY(the Sneak thief) with his....."hand in the till", other than that, I think I'd prefer Carty instead of this DULL bastard !

A PLEASE don't start with the TWA thing(you know, theTWA thing that happened..."BEFORE"....9/11) !

 

[flyhigh]

Hopeful,

You took paycuts, so did mgmt. You have incentives, they have incentives. You think theirs are better...not sure what you are referring to as raped or nothing shared.