Parker Suddenly Retires; Gary Kelly To Replace Him
- Thread starter FWAAA
- Start date
Wow. It was quite a surprise here at HDQ. That's unfortunate for SWA as he did what he could during extremely turbulent times from 9-11 through the F/A talks. I hope he enjoys his retirement! 
Gary Kelly was the obvious successor. I'm sure his grooming has been taking place for some time. I have faith that he will continue to keep us moving in the right direction!
Gary Kelly was the obvious successor. I'm sure his grooming has been taking place for some time. I have faith that he will continue to keep us moving in the right direction!
It's sad to see another Southwest icon go out to the pasture. He had huge shoes to fill & probably was a wise decision to kick back and enjoy life. Jim was a pretty low kew CEO, a huge change after Herb. I'm looking forward to Kelley. He seems to have a lot more charisma which we all had missed after Herb handed over the reigns. I'm grateful for all that Jim has done. Now we have a young, energetic, & very intelligent CEO. All the contracts are settled. Now lets concentrate on what we do best and kick some butt!
coolflyingfool
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 1,192
- 1
I actually think that Gary Kelly will be even more agressive in leading SWA in to the future. Isn't he the one that finally convinced the Board to hedge fuel? He can lead SWA for the next 15 years and beyond. Should be a very good time for SWA. Just my thoughts..........
goingboeing
Veteran
- Jan 30, 2004
- 584
- 1
I believe behind the scenes once Herb saw that James Parker did not handle labor negoiations very well with the F/A's Herb told the BOD that James had to go.
Remenber,SWA[LUV] is Herb's baby and he did not want to see the baby dropped on its head.
As an AA employee with 18+ years I see a very positve future for your airline with your new CEO.
I wish we had some management that could see past today and make some good decisions.We have not had this since Robert Crandall was CEO.
Best wishes to ALL SWA employees and keep up the good work!
Remenber,SWA[LUV] is Herb's baby and he did not want to see the baby dropped on its head.
As an AA employee with 18+ years I see a very positve future for your airline with your new CEO.
I wish we had some management that could see past today and make some good decisions.We have not had this since Robert Crandall was CEO.
Best wishes to ALL SWA employees and keep up the good work!
ELP_WN_Psgr
Senior
- Nov 29, 2003
- 419
- 0
Here is my theory.
Colleen didn't like the way Parker was mean to the poor little FAs during negotiations, she ran and tattled to Herb, Herb will take all the credit and the CEO-of-the-moment will take all of the blame until they close the lid on Herb's pine box, and you could see this one coming from a long ways off.
That being said, Gary Kelly is a good choice and I expect he will do a fine job.
I am more concerned, however, about the caving in to the FA union. Sooner or later, giving employees what they want comes back to haunt you Ask USAir. I remain convinced Parker would have locked them out, much like the mechanics during their short lived strike back around 1978.
A ock out would have done wonders. It would have been like guillotining one person "to encourage the others" back during the French revolution.
You do remember the French revolution, don't you? When they killed all the smart people.
At any rate, when Herb emasculated Parker publicly during the FA contract negotiations, Parker was left with no other option.
This doesn't mean that I no longer like WN or will avoid flying them. So long as they avoid tampering with the formula and structure put into place SEVERAL airline presidetns ago, all will be well.
But labor costs are getting out of control, and Colleen and Herb wanting to be nice to the FAs might ultimately lead to an unhappy ending.
Colleen didn't like the way Parker was mean to the poor little FAs during negotiations, she ran and tattled to Herb, Herb will take all the credit and the CEO-of-the-moment will take all of the blame until they close the lid on Herb's pine box, and you could see this one coming from a long ways off.
That being said, Gary Kelly is a good choice and I expect he will do a fine job.
I am more concerned, however, about the caving in to the FA union. Sooner or later, giving employees what they want comes back to haunt you Ask USAir. I remain convinced Parker would have locked them out, much like the mechanics during their short lived strike back around 1978.
A ock out would have done wonders. It would have been like guillotining one person "to encourage the others" back during the French revolution.
You do remember the French revolution, don't you? When they killed all the smart people.
At any rate, when Herb emasculated Parker publicly during the FA contract negotiations, Parker was left with no other option.
This doesn't mean that I no longer like WN or will avoid flying them. So long as they avoid tampering with the formula and structure put into place SEVERAL airline presidetns ago, all will be well.
But labor costs are getting out of control, and Colleen and Herb wanting to be nice to the FAs might ultimately lead to an unhappy ending.
ELP_WN_Psgr
Senior
- Nov 29, 2003
- 419
- 0
FA30, I think you speak the truth.
And it is a damned shame, too.
My advice to the chronic malcontents:
get off your goat-smelling butts and scrape up some money and go out and start your own damned airline, and pay yourselves and your employees the highest wages you can imagine and see how it all works out.
I still thought I had the best idea....namely, don't pay the FAs anything at all.....but let them keep all of the liquor revenue.
That had several advantages.
It meant that FAs would be out in the aisle, being very solicitious to the passengers.....instead of holing up in the galley with USAToday or the latest in Danielle Steele novels (this is generally not a problem on WN).
However, it also means you would have a heckuva time getting anyone to bid SLC trips. Las Vegas, on the other hand....FAs would be willing to pay people in order to GET TO WORK a Las Vegas trip.
That's funny!But, of course, there are many negatives. Would FAs find themselves more willing to bend the rules of liquor sales? If someone had a liquor-related accident after the flight, would there be greater likelihood of a jury finding the FA liable?
There are others, too.
But, back to the point, WN is nudging ever closer to killing the goose. Why even endanger it?
goingboeing
Veteran
- Jan 30, 2004
- 584
- 1
Yeah,pay all the F/A's $6.00/HR and put them on food stamps and welfare.ELP_WN_Psgr said:
Maybe your company could hire some illegals to do your job for 1/4 the amount of wages they pay you.
All employee groups deserve good wages and the employees are currently being paid what the market will bear.In the future some adjustments may have to be made to match the market but I would'nt go in the panic mode yet about the F'A's contract.
US Air employees made HUGE wage concessions in Chapter 11 and the management is asking for another round of concessions from its employee groups.
No amount of concessions can compensate for bad management of an airline or management who thinks they deserve millions in compensation for the job they do.
SWA has a GOOD management team and the employees should be thankful for that.
My message to SWA employees: Come to work at AA for 3 months and then you will appreciate what you have at SWA.
Fly AA for several flights and you will see why Herb understood the importance of compromise with the F/A's.The F/A's are the frontline customer service employees for the airline and can make or break the impressions left on passengers by the airline.
ELP_WN_Psgr
Senior
- Nov 29, 2003
- 419
- 0
I won't disagree that WN's FAs are good. I've always thought they were the best.
And I do have to fly AA and frankly, their FA folks are vastly superior to Delta's and a few others....but about the best thing I have to say after flying AA is "it was a plane ride."
Still.....you have to balance the triangle....shareholders, customers, employees. You go to far on any of the vertices, you risk voluntary gooseslaughter (referring to the golden goose that lays the eggs.)
My advice is, was, and will be to tie compensation to company performance.
If your company makes a lot of money, the mployees ought to make a lot also.
The company comes upon lean times, the employees should get a living wage but ought not be griping about the cost of Lexus repairs or how high the taxes are on their condo in Vail.
Southwest not only has the best FAs, the mechanics are awfully good too. They have to be, based upon their company's reputation for reliability, completion factor, and safety. Yet WN's mechanics took a strike./dealt with a lockout.....and the union gave in...and in the long run it did nothing but help the relationship between the mechanics and the management.
The problem with FAs is there really isn't any way to squeeze any more productivity out of them. They can only fly so many hours per month. There has to be a fixed number of them for every so many passengers. They can't be automated, as has been the case with ticket agents and reservations (via kiosk-self check in and book yourself in the privacy of your own computer room).
Wages should follow productivity and, short of productivity increases, wages should be proportional to the consumer price index. There should be perks such as stock and profit sharing which would reward all employees for superior company financial performance.
But all this matters not. Herb./Colleen caved in. Quite a few of us knew they would. It will be real interesting if B6 inaugurates hourly DAL-HOU service with $20 FAs and $75 pilots in those nifty little 100 seat Embraer 190s. Never say never. Braniff never thought a 3-airplane airline running between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio would last 6 months.
And I do have to fly AA and frankly, their FA folks are vastly superior to Delta's and a few others....but about the best thing I have to say after flying AA is "it was a plane ride."
Still.....you have to balance the triangle....shareholders, customers, employees. You go to far on any of the vertices, you risk voluntary gooseslaughter (referring to the golden goose that lays the eggs.)
My advice is, was, and will be to tie compensation to company performance.
If your company makes a lot of money, the mployees ought to make a lot also.
The company comes upon lean times, the employees should get a living wage but ought not be griping about the cost of Lexus repairs or how high the taxes are on their condo in Vail.
Southwest not only has the best FAs, the mechanics are awfully good too. They have to be, based upon their company's reputation for reliability, completion factor, and safety. Yet WN's mechanics took a strike./dealt with a lockout.....and the union gave in...and in the long run it did nothing but help the relationship between the mechanics and the management.
The problem with FAs is there really isn't any way to squeeze any more productivity out of them. They can only fly so many hours per month. There has to be a fixed number of them for every so many passengers. They can't be automated, as has been the case with ticket agents and reservations (via kiosk-self check in and book yourself in the privacy of your own computer room).
Wages should follow productivity and, short of productivity increases, wages should be proportional to the consumer price index. There should be perks such as stock and profit sharing which would reward all employees for superior company financial performance.
But all this matters not. Herb./Colleen caved in. Quite a few of us knew they would. It will be real interesting if B6 inaugurates hourly DAL-HOU service with $20 FAs and $75 pilots in those nifty little 100 seat Embraer 190s. Never say never. Braniff never thought a 3-airplane airline running between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio would last 6 months.
KCFlyer
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 11,212
- 1,423
And that, more than anything is why Parker resigned, IMHO. It wasn't because the BOD or Herb "asked" him to resign. Those that aren't satisfied are a cancer cell. And after two years of having their union portray Parker as the one who was the root cause of all their problems, those few cells would still harbor a resentment towards the "problem". So Parker performed a little preventative surgery and removed the one thing that might cause those cance cells to grow. I think Parker did what he did out of his love of the company. If the TA passes, then if those who still aren't satisfied after the majority of their peers votes in the TA, then they too should take the same bold step that Parker did.SWAFA30 said:
The problem with FAs is there really isn't any way to squeeze any more productivity out of them. They can only fly so many hours per month.
That is not entirely true. We do not have the FAR limits on duty time like pilots. There are of course only so many hours in the day but as long as we get minimum FAR crew rest...we can fly until we drop.
There has to be a fixed number of them for every so many passengers.
It's not per passenger...it's per seat...that's the problem. Even if we're hauling about 120 empty seats...all 3 of us are still required to be onboard.
They can't be automated, as has been the case with ticket agents and reservations (via kiosk-self check in and book yourself in the privacy of your own computer room).
Not yet...but I'm sure somebody, somewhere is workin on it......(just kidding)
Wages should follow productivity and, short of productivity increases, wages should be proportional to the consumer price index. There should be perks such as stock and profit sharing which would reward all employees for superior company financial performance.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that when you start talking CASMs and RASM and CPIs to most frontline(not just inflight) employees...their eyes gaze over and suddenly their minds go someplace else. That is not so much a commentary on the intelligence on my co-workers...it is more of an indictment of the public school systems utter failure with regard to teaching basic economics. You could herd all 30 some odd thousand WN employees into the SuperDome and thoroughly explain the ins and outs of a free market economy vis-a-vis the airline industry in general and SWA in particular and it wouldn't change a thing. SWA with regard to labor has become a victim of it's own success. First off, they made it such a nice place to work...nobody wants to leave(only 1000 took the buyout). Second, they have consistently and breathtakingly successful. The two facts in conjuction form a dangerous combination and the result is senior employees who want more and more and more. No matter what you or I or anyone else says...many think the WN coffers are not just deep....they think they are bottomless and NOTHING short of a BK will convince them otherwise. I think a few consecutive quarters of of red ink would do wonders.
Regarding Stock Options and Profitsharing. Both require patience and financial savvy. There are frontline employees who would "get it" but when your talking about folks who are just trying to keep the bills paid...hard pay will always win the day. Always.
But all this matters not. Herb./Colleen caved in. Quite a few of us knew they would.
I'm not even going to go there. We're having a nice civil discussion here and I'd like to keep it that way.
It will be real interesting if B6 inaugurates hourly DAL-HOU service with $20 FAs and $75 pilots in those nifty little 100 seat Embraer 190s. Never say never. Braniff never thought a 3-airplane airline running between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio would last 6 months.
No, what will be really interesting is seeing how B6 manages to keep their frontline folks happy as the company ages and they want more $$$.
That is not entirely true. We do not have the FAR limits on duty time like pilots. There are of course only so many hours in the day but as long as we get minimum FAR crew rest...we can fly until we drop.
There has to be a fixed number of them for every so many passengers.
It's not per passenger...it's per seat...that's the problem. Even if we're hauling about 120 empty seats...all 3 of us are still required to be onboard.
They can't be automated, as has been the case with ticket agents and reservations (via kiosk-self check in and book yourself in the privacy of your own computer room).
Not yet...but I'm sure somebody, somewhere is workin on it......(just kidding)
Wages should follow productivity and, short of productivity increases, wages should be proportional to the consumer price index. There should be perks such as stock and profit sharing which would reward all employees for superior company financial performance.
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that when you start talking CASMs and RASM and CPIs to most frontline(not just inflight) employees...their eyes gaze over and suddenly their minds go someplace else. That is not so much a commentary on the intelligence on my co-workers...it is more of an indictment of the public school systems utter failure with regard to teaching basic economics. You could herd all 30 some odd thousand WN employees into the SuperDome and thoroughly explain the ins and outs of a free market economy vis-a-vis the airline industry in general and SWA in particular and it wouldn't change a thing. SWA with regard to labor has become a victim of it's own success. First off, they made it such a nice place to work...nobody wants to leave(only 1000 took the buyout). Second, they have consistently and breathtakingly successful. The two facts in conjuction form a dangerous combination and the result is senior employees who want more and more and more. No matter what you or I or anyone else says...many think the WN coffers are not just deep....they think they are bottomless and NOTHING short of a BK will convince them otherwise. I think a few consecutive quarters of of red ink would do wonders.
Regarding Stock Options and Profitsharing. Both require patience and financial savvy. There are frontline employees who would "get it" but when your talking about folks who are just trying to keep the bills paid...hard pay will always win the day. Always.
But all this matters not. Herb./Colleen caved in. Quite a few of us knew they would.
I'm not even going to go there. We're having a nice civil discussion here and I'd like to keep it that way.
It will be real interesting if B6 inaugurates hourly DAL-HOU service with $20 FAs and $75 pilots in those nifty little 100 seat Embraer 190s. Never say never. Braniff never thought a 3-airplane airline running between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio would last 6 months.
No, what will be really interesting is seeing how B6 manages to keep their frontline folks happy as the company ages and they want more $$$.
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