Major Carriers May Fail In 05

[repeet]

Major Carriers May Fail in 05

Helane Becker, a transportation analyst at the Benchmark Co., a New York brokerage said, "They have asked their employees for pay cuts so many times. At some point, their flight attendants and mechanics have to realize that they can make more money elsewhere."

Jim

[post="228302"][/post]​

When is now, that point. Find your cost savings somewhere else!

 

[goingboeing]

Not really. SW is running a point-to-point, high market density operation. They don't have yield killing, high ASM RJs, or serve money-losing low density markets. They don't operate many kinds of completely different aircraft. They have a much better corporate culture. They have leaders in management instead of self-serving incompetents. They have lots of cash. They hedged fuel.

The legacy carriers don't have all those things . . . . and U none of them . . . . nor will slashing and burning employees get it for them.

[post="228356"][/post]​

I agree! Look at what Southwest pays baggage handlers with 10 years verses what AA pays a 10 year baggage handler.SWA compensates according to education and various skills verses paying all the members under a union umbrella high wages.This is why they can afford to pay a mechanic $38.00/hr.
SWA management has got their act together and the employees respond accordingly.

 

[Kev3188]

I agree! Look at what Southwest pays baggage handlers with 10 years verses what AA pays a 10 year baggage handler.SWA compensates according to education and various skills verses paying all the members under a union umbrella high wages.This is why they can afford to pay a mechanic $38.00/hr.
SWA management has got their act together and the employees respond accordingly.

[post="228411"][/post]​

WN rampers make $24.00/hr. after 11 years.

 

[HPearlyretiree]

US has been doing nothing but talking about how to make money for over a decade, but has done nothing. CASM was always huge, but they made money in the NE, but what did they do to fend off WN from completely tooling them at BWI?

The same thing they did when WN slapped them out of OAK, nothing!

The only thing US did in the last 20 years was destroy PSA and Piedmont and not transfer their sucesss or corporate culture into its own.

A poorly run company that talked about where they needed to be for years, but never actually did anything about it.

I think the provision of the RLA that doesn't allow employees to decertify a union needs to go, its a dinosaur clause...

Best of luck to the US employees, you are great people at a terrible airline.

 

[North by Northwest]

Unions can MOST certainly be de-certified. Northwest cabin crew de-certified the International Brotherhood of Teamsters after 26 years, and install their independant Union, The Professional Flight Attendants Association.

 

[usfliboi]

South west never had h igh cost or unions to deal with. Thats the key reason . south west can have its cake and eat it too.

 

[firstamendment]

South west never had h igh cost or unions to deal with. Thats the key reason . south west can have its cake and eat it too.

[post="228471"][/post]​

Southwest EMBRACES their unions, therefore not having to "deal" with them. US Airways FIGHTS their unions. Where the hell have you been?

 

[jimntx]

South west never had h igh cost or unions to deal with. Thats the key reason . south west can have its cake and eat it too.

[post="228471"][/post]​

Uh, SW is the MOST unionized airline of all. 97% of their employees belong to a union. 🙄

 

[Winglet]

It's SW's BUSINESS MODEL and CORPORATE CULTURE that has made it successful in this rapidly changing economy. It's business model is point to point in high density markets only and it's worked to maintain good employe relations.

U on the other hand has tried to be an full-service hub and spoke, high CASM RJ feed, highly diversified aircraft airline, whose management who thinks antagonizing it's workforce is a virtue. Even when the airline industry was booming, and other majors were making money hand-over-fist, U was struggling. It does not have the network or the executive savy to be successful. Lakefield's only thought is trying to compete with the SW's and JetBlews of the world by setting the worker compensation so low as to subsidize management inefficiency and a fundamentally flawed model. The so-called transformation plan will change nothing except to cause losses to slow somewhat, for a little while.

The DAL, AA, and NW are on the same road, but are walking down it instead of sprinting down it like U and UAL are.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

Lakefield's only thought is trying to compete with the SW's and JetBlews of the world by setting the worker compensation so low as to subsidize management inefficiency and a fundamentally flawed model. The so-called transformation plan will change nothing except to cause losses to slow somewhat, for a little while.

[post="228509"][/post]​

This is EXACTLY right. Lakefield has no idea how to effectively run an airline and the Exec's around him have proven themselves to be totally inept time and time again. The big IF is if this company can pass February without forced liquidation, it's a slippery road thru the next 6 months. It is not a question of IF the end will come, but WHEN. The new labor contracts and givebacks will only prolong the inevitable a short time. It's not the labor costs that bring this company down, it's the BAD Business decisisions and management that feeds off itself that will destroy USAirways. They have been stuck in the same box for 20 years and do not have the foresite or ABILITY to change.

 

[blueoceans]

"It's not the labor costs that bring this company down, it's the BAD Business decisisions and management that feeds off itself that will destroy USAirways. They have been stuck in the same box for 20 years and do not have the foresite or ABILITY to change. "

Yes, that and the more than 40 years of strict union work rules and featherbedding that came in before de-regulation. The rules were only recently given up kicking and screaming and bankrupt. That's probably what fliboi was talking about.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

Yes, that and the more than 40 years of strict union work rules and featherbedding that came in before de-regulation. The rules were only recently given up kicking and screaming and bankrupt. That's probably what fliboi was talking about.

[post="228614"][/post]​

Even with all the givebacks and takeaways, most analysts agree the survivability of this company is marginal at best. So where does this figure into the demise of USAir? Possibly a business plan that works would help. For now, it's pretty much the same things with some new lines of flight. Thats it. Same give aways, same mess at PHL, same oversales and paying people to get off planes, then paying other airlines to take them...etc..etc...it never changes. Without a total change at the top, this company will not be here in the not too distant future.

 

[blueoceans]

Even with all the givebacks and takeaways, most analysts agree the survivability of this company is marginal at best. So where does this figure into the demise of USAir? Possibly a business plan that works would help. For now, it's pretty much the same things with some new lines of flight. Thats it. Same give aways, same mess at PHL, same oversales and paying people to get off planes, then paying other airlines to take them...etc..etc...it never changes. Without a total change at the top, this company will not be here in the not too distant future.

[post="228651"][/post]​

I agree. This company made the catastrophic mistake of deciding to hub Pittsburgh AND Philadelphia. It has always been a reactive company and almost never a proactive company. The paint scheme looks good, however.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

BO.... exactly right!

 

[JS]

I agree. This company made the catastrophic mistake of deciding to hub Pittsburgh AND Philadelphia. It has always been a reactive company and almost never a proactive company. The paint scheme looks good, however.

[post="228865"][/post]​

What's wrong with a hub in both? Frankly I think it was a mistake to de-hub PIT. PIT is a great place to change planes; PHL is not.

Since Southwest is the airline to emulate, why not do what they do, and operate lots of hubs, some small (e.g., BNA) and some large (e.g., HOU)?