Enter Piedmont, the speedbird that was going to be taken over by railroad. At first they were thrilled that US came to their "rescue" and staved off the hostile take over attempt by the railroad.
This is not true. The OVERWHELMING majority of PI employees WANTED Norfolk/Southern to buy out Piedmont because the two had a great relationship, gave NS an added transportation mode, N/S had deep pockets, and a buyout would preserve the Piedmont name and legacy.
It was a bidding war by USAir (in an attempt to fend of a TWA buyout attempt of USAir) that pushed up the stock price to a RIDICULOUS price, causing NS to say no thank you and handing USAir such a huge amt of debt that TWA forgot any thoughts of bidding for USAir....oh and lest we forget TWA's brief entry in the PI bidding war.
In the end, money talked and those that value Piedmont SOOOO much forget that. BECAUSE money talks, those "loyal" <_< Piedmonsters sold the company out to a company that NEITHER employees OR customer wanted. The MOMENT that merger was announced, the PI customers revolted. I NEVER EVER heard ONE good thing about USAir from the Piedmont customers. To top it off, when USAir management started coming in and telling the PI employees they did TOO much for the passenger, I knew we were in trouble. When USAir couldnt make a simple decision like the kind of swizzle sticks, how much soda to serve, or what kind of colors to put on the side of the ac, I KNEW we were in trouble.
So when anyone thinks USAir was somehow the "savior" of Piedmont, I think 28,000 former PI employee and MILLIONS of PI customers would DARE TO DIFFER. Piedmont was ambitious. USAir was arrogant and thought they could buy their way to the top with profits from their many exclusive, EXPENSIVE routes.
I think the airline GODS have cursed this company. The same NOT WELL THOUGH OUT decision making has been going on here for decades!! Did ANYONE at USAir look at the Piedmont route map to see that we competed in EVERY region of THEIR routes? Did they not see that SOMETHING would have to close. USAir spent a hell of alot of money to make them unattractive to potential takeover bids through stupid decisions and financially waistful decisions.
And when the company had the golden goose in front of them, they screwed THAT up!! Piedmont at the time had 767 options up to around 40 a/c. U took, what 12? And then settled for the 10 we have today. Uncle Ed didn't want the 767. Infact, at a time when you go SELL OFF THE OPTIONS TO OTHER AIRLINES, we just GAVE THEM BACK TO BOEING!! S*T*U*P*I*D!!!!! His small mind couldn't get past the 737. The lack of widebodies STILL haunts this company. We would NOT be in this widebody mess today had somebody THOUGHT instead of just REACTING
THIS kind of mismanagement has been going on for YEARS!! We need a visionary at the helm of this company. STUPID DECISIONS...NOT FORMER AIRLINE LOYALTIES..is what drives the lack of a "family" feel. I HAVE a family and if my family treated me like the US Airway "family"...old and new..did, I wouldn't be warm and fuzzy to THEM either.
FAMILY??!! Folks, stir those memory banks. CAL was the SLUDGE of the industry with the entire Texas Air Corp MESS!! Talk about not knowing who you are!! My CAL friends HATED that company!! They stole from them, busted their plates, had the WORST attitudes. AND went thru TWO Chapter 11's as well!!
Guess what? One man came in and had a vision for CAL!! One man came in and had FAITH in CAL and her employees!! One man came in and saw the potention!! One man came in and decided to RUN an airline, to LISTEN to the customer, and to LISTEN to the employees. It didn't happen overnight, but this man kept at it and literally turned CAL FROM THE WORST airline to one of the best, if NOT the best airline in the USA. That man? Gordon Bethune!!
Doug Parker? Scott Kirby?? Until you implement a little thumb's worth of GB's airline saviiness, there will be no US Airways family. There will be no awards. Morale WILL suck! Will will CONTINUE to be considered USELESS AIR...US Scare.. or America Worst with a new name. Is this what you want? I don't!!
When this team came in I was with them 100%. They were fresh and gave me hope and excitement. Today I feel the complete opposite. It is the same US CURSE centered with POOR decisions, arrogance, creed, and lack of vision. How DARE this man claim he deserves his $5 million bonuses based on performance. JUST REMEMBER DOUG...YOU didn't raise the funds for this merger. LAKEFIELD DID!! YOU didn't take the HEAVY cuts that provided you with profits DESPITE a MISERABLY ran company. You HAVE oppressed your employees....ESPECIALLY the WEST employees who continue to make (FA) $5-$7 less an hour at the the same 5-9 year range. SHAME ON YOU!! You REFUSED to push thru a single contract because where East is better, West SUCKS and where West is better, East SUCKS!! Essentially, you are taking the WORST of BOTH airlines and seem to enjoy pitting one group against the other. Blame the east. Blame the west.
Folks, we NEED as the WORKERBEES to come together and say ENOUGH!!! THAT will cause us to be a family!! Doug and Scott are the enemies. One is a grinning fool and the other is an unorganized babbling mess!!
It's time for the BOD's to SERIOUSLY think about kicking these bozos out and paying a hefty price to lure Gordon Bethune to US Airways. Pricey? Yup!! Worth it? Hum, with the loss of money BECAUSE of this team and money loss that we COULD had made, we could hire 5 Gordum Bethunes.
Family? Yes...DYSFUNTIONAL family. I have no respect for any of my own dysfunctional family members. Do you HONESTLY think I will feel any differently about THIS one?
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I was merely suggesting (hence the question mark) that no one smiles at you or says hi because you scowl. That's all I can think of. Not pathetic at all. What's pathetic is that people *still* refer to how much nicer we were to each other 20 years ago before the merger, which I would argue is cr@p!
