Our Dream CEO

[oldiebutgoody]

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On 5/29/2003 2:02:13 AM delldude wrote:


i dunno,kind of always looked up to industry giants louis fienberg,jerome lester horwitz and his brother moses.

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I think their modern day counterparts are running this show as we speak. Oooooh, a wiseguy!

 

[Twicebaked]

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On 5/29/2003 7:41:29 AM Hope777 wrote:

Uncle Ed may have been able to run a company the size of AL prior to the Mergers, but history has proven that he was unable to run a large airline. I'm sure his supporting cast was of no help either.

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I believe that is the jproblem with Dave! He came from Continental Express. They loved him! He is trying to make US into a regional express carrier. That is ALL is knows. He will not be happy until we are back to the size of AL.

 

[olivia]

I''d also like to say best regards to Ed Colodny...
True, he built the company during regulation and
usair had eighteen profitable years during those good
years....

now with deregulation problems have emerged.

Yes, the public has low fares and competition.
But now with every airline facing huge losses..it
appears that deregulation is not all that great for this
industry. And while I don''t think it is governments job
to keep an airline afloat that is mismanaged, neither
is it right for ceo''s and former ceo''s to bleed these
companies dry and walk away with huge bonuses, stock options, and huge retirement pay.

We have only the Southwests, JetBlue, AirTran, etc
making money.

I''d like an honest open CEO with a plan that will
work....
and I''d like all high paid executives to lead us
to profitability or step aside. The front line
employees are giving 100 per cent everywhere I look.
Now show us some leadership...and no whining, no excuses.

thank you.

 

[exagony]

How about Tom Dashcle's wife. She and her husband know how to DELETED millions for NW and Boeing, so why not at U?

 

[Hello Newman]

I just want a CEO to stick around and really show a commitment to running U the way it should be run.
Ed Colodny was the last real CEO we had having been at the helm for (I think) 16yrs before the company charter forced him to retire. We are now on our 3rd
CEO in 12yrs and lets face it, Dave is only here to line his own pockets.

 

[Winglet]

If U has any money laying around that could be put into a secret protected retirement fund, Don Carty may be interested. I know he''s available.

 

[PHL]

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On 5/28/2003 9:35:16 PM FlyingHippie wrote:
I pick - Richard Branson. He just bought his employees an island off the coast of Australia with a resort for their use only.
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This is great for his new Australian endeavor and its employee base, but a bit of a hike for his much larger employee base in the UK. Why not buy them something closer to home? I guess they can get a break on his other island real estate - Necker island in the Carribean....

 

[LGA777]

Since there are so many fans of Ed Colodney on here (as I am as well) just want to mention he will be the keynote speaker at the Banquet at Airliners International 2003, an annual gathering of airline enthusists held every summer in a different location. This year it is in CMH July 10-12 and the Banquet is on Saturday evening July 12th. More info at ai2003.com. If you are interested in the industry as more than just a job these conventions are a lot of fun !

 

[Hello Newman]

Hope, say what you want about Ed Colodny being the
cause of U''s problem''s today. But you gotta admit
he took GOOD care of all the PI employees when they
were being merged in. They kept all their seniority,
good sizable pay increases, and got their sick time
wiped off the books. I don''t think PI was anywhere
near that generous with the Empire employees.

 

[nycbusdriver]

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On 5/31/2003 9:24:36 PM Hello Newman wrote:

Hope, say what you want about Ed Colodny being the
cause of U''s problem''s today. But you gotta admit
he took GOOD care of all the PI employees when they
were being merged in. They kept all their seniority,
good sizable pay increases, and got their sick time
wiped off the books. I don''t think PI was anywhere
near that generous with the Empire employees.

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First, I''ve never met Ed Colodny. I have no doubt that he is a very personable man, and he likely had the best interests of the company and employees of USAir at heart. Unfortunately, just being nice, personable and having a great memory for names does not an effective CEO make. The mirror image program was truly an insult to those of us who had to endure it. It set the tone for my career after Piedmont, and I have never been proud of the airline that bought out my services. I''m here because it was MY job before USAir came along. USAir was the ONLY carrier to which I never applied.

In my mind, though, Ed Colodny''s biggest mistake (the one which put the company on the fast-track down the tubes) was to give in to the "good old boy" system and make an incredibly inept knucklehead his heir. Schofield is also a "nice guy," but his disatrous tenure all but sealed our fate. What a disaster it was! Part of Colodny''s folly was that Gordon Bethune was shown the door to eliminate any competition for the top seat. (Can you imagine the powerhouse USAir would be if Bethune took the helm instead of Schofield!)

USAir did me no favors by buying Piedmont. None. I kept my date-of-hire, but went from 18% on the pilot list to 39%. That can hardly be contstrued as "keeping my seniority." The pilot pay scales were virtually identical, and my "career expectations" included the 767 and transatlantic flying, both of which Colodny officially disdained.

Now I''m going to start hearing the indigant "well-if-you-don''t-like-it-quit" yahoos. To those, remember what I said previously. This was MY JOB long before USAir came along to screw it up.

 

[Hello Newman]

So you went from 18% to 39% on the srniority lists,
many of us in Customer Service lost seniority as well, but YOU KEPT EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR SENIORITY as did your co-workers in Customer Service. You were NOT stapled on the bottom as PI
did with Empire or AA dis with TW. As for Gordon
Bethune, who knows what might''ve been had he stayed.
But remember Contintental Lite was nothing to right
home about.

 

[NAPAUS]

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On 5/28/2003 9:38:19 PM Hello Newman wrote:

Bring back Ed Colodny

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Oh Yeah that is brilliant...the guy who started this mess..merging three ailines and then having NO plans to expand and grow...HELLO! wake up....nice man - no vision.....

 

[NAPAUS]

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On 5/28/2003 9:35:16 PM FlyingHippie wrote:

Have fun with this, who would you pick to run US Airways? I pick - Richard Branson. He just bought his employees an island off the coast of Australia with a resort for their use only. Personally, I''d just like to work for a guy that makes flying fun again and treat the employees in a DIGNIFIED manner.

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I agree, would luv to work for him. U know hes looking to start or buy a US airline. Lets get him to come to US..and AX Dave!

 

[REACC1]

If they would 86 the current version of the "american dream" of gutting an airline and pilaging the workforce, you bet. Concentrate on running an airline with a vision and purpose instead of ransacking it for personal gain. Yes.
Branson has money, he doesnt need to take it from the ''poor''.

 

[nycbusdriver]

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On 6/1/2003 10:49:27 PM PineyBob wrote:


What leaders like Richard Branson bring to a company is a personal passion, vision and a well defined set of goals. Plus the personal charisma to challenge the most cynical negative employee put forth the superior effort required to be successful in any environment.

The Dave Siegel''s of the world get most of the above. They are excellent at the numbers portion of equation. The charisma and ability to articulate their vision is where they often fall short. Branson is an excellent choice on the surface but would american workers respond to him?

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I think American workers would embrace Richard Branson simply because they would appreciate the respect he gives his employees. A friend worked for him at Virgin in EWR. When Branson showed up at the station for the first time, he threw a huge party for the station personnel and partied with them throughout the day. He stayed and socialized, instead of the typical CEO 10-minute-show-face-and-leave maneuver. My friend loved working for Branson. I suspect everyone at USAirways would trade the entire Bronner-Siegel team in a New York second to get Richard Branson in here. If I thought Branson was interested in USAirways, I''d support an effort to change the law to allow foreign ownership. But he isn''t, so I don''t.