Reddings Response

[Bob Owens]

If he hadn't responded at all it would have been more dignified.

With such unimaginative jerks running the company no wonder they can afford to pay their employees.


----- Original Message -----
From: Reding, Bob
To: Michael Allen
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 9:40 PM
Subject: RE: Reflective vests


Very sad…..



If he hates it here, why doesn’t he leave and get a job with one of those other airlines. Oh, I forgot, they outsource their mx and take away their employees pension….



Bob




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The letter that generated Reddings response.
From: Michael Allen
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 12:35 AM
To: Martinez, Danny
Subject: Reflective vests



Dear Mr. Martinez
I was reading your memo dated 12/27/06 to maintenance personnel with regard to safety vests. I always wear a reflective vest, and encourage others to do the same. What struck a chord with me was your statement about why some departments are required to wear them and others not, but in maintenance we should “Lead by exampleâ€.

This is an interesting platitude to throw at us, particularly in the light of recent upper management compensation packages. It harkens back to the ‘good old days’ of Don Carty, when we got the similar slogan of “shared sacrifice†when it was nothing of the sort. The labor relation department then dreamed up a replacement catch phrase after all the bad press, when it was revealed that surprise, surprise, it was nothing more than a lie, of “pull together, win togetherâ€. Please save these catchy ditties for the fortune cookie writers, along with the “turn around plan†remark.

If you practice what you preach, then I expect an announcement that you will be turning down your bloated package, and encouraging everyone else to do likewise. Should I hold my breath, or will I be turning blue waiting?

If I were in your shoes, would I turn down this hefty compensation package? Absolutely not! But what I wouldn’t do is to come out with advice like “Lead by example†while I run to the bank. Personally I get insulted by the hypocritical statements that management comes out with, as do many of my colleagues. Do you take us for idiots?

I would much prefer a little honesty from management, so I’ve come up with a few little phrases that you can use with my full permission.

“Shared nothingâ€
“You pull, we winâ€
“The turn the stock price around planâ€
“Do as we say, and not as we doâ€
“We know why you fly, we’re cheaper than Jet Blue because our employees are subsidizing your ticketâ€


And my personal favorite, although what it lacks in the ‘catchy’ department it certainly makes up in honesty



“Listen you ignorant plebeians, we are superior and want you to suffer so that we can make tons of cash, because greed is good, and we don’t give a fig* about our employees, and we will continue to use your jobs and pensions as a bargaining tool to get what we wantâ€


Well there you go, doesn’t that feel better, honesty is always the best policy.

I will continue to encourage my fellow workers to wear a reflective vest, because getting dragged across the ramp while stuck under the back of a vehicle costs AA loads of money and a mountain of paper work, not to mention the bad publicity and scrutiny that we get from OSHA.

Yours honestly and sincerely



Michael Allen

AA Maintenance JFK

* Use any other word here, if you like.

 

[Hopeful]

edited by moderator- please dont quote lengthy posts. thanks.

Wow, quite a response coming from someone who is getting millions in bonus pay!

 

[eolesen]

Ah, the dangers of email...

Think it all you want, but never put something in writing to a subordinate that you wouldn't want on the front page of a newspaper...

 

[Hopeful]

Ah, the dangers of email...

Think it all you want, but never put something in writing to a subordinate that you wouldn't want on the front page of a newspaper...

It's funny how when a worker complains, management replies with the standard "If you don't like it here, there's the door" speech. But when an executive reminds others that he could be making more elsewhere, he/she just get an increase in compensation and bonus.

Oh, I forgot, we can't afford to lose the "key" executives.

 

[Vortilon]

Bob Redding, now there is a scam artist if ever there was one. Considering his position at AA was just created out of nowhere a few years back to add an extra UNEADED layer of management.

He must have forgotten that we know he is a phoney and so is his position.

 

[AMFAMAN]

Very sad…..



If he hates it here, why doesn’t he leave and get a job with one of those other airlines. Oh, I forgot, they outsource their mx and take away their employees pension….



Bob

Almost sounds Team twu like, maybe he was writing their material. What an embarrassment to all of maintenance to have a response like this from the man. He would of been better off not responding like Martinez did.

 

[Wretched Wrench]

Almost sounds Team twu like, maybe he was writing their material. What an embarrassment to all of maintenance to have a response like this from the man. He would of been better off not responding like Martinez did.

I am not so sure he is an embarrassment.

His response does not resonate like Marie Antoinnete's "Let Them Eat Cake", but works well as a second rate, B scale equivalent.

About right for AA.

 

[eolesen]

Bob Redding, now there is a scam artist if ever there was one. Considering his position at AA was just created out of nowhere a few years back to add an extra UNEADED layer of management.

He must have forgotten that we know he is a phoney and so is his position.

To be fair, it isn't a new position by any means.

Bob Baker held the position up for at least 10 years until 1999. Gerard Arpey held it from 2000 to April 2002, and he kept oversight for all those areas until he assumed the CEO position. That's when Reding was named to the post. At that time, the position was renamed and downgraded from being an EVP to a SVP.

Call him a phoney if you want, but he's got a little more substance to his resume than most other execs that y'all like to beat up on -- he started out in the USAF as a pilot, has allegedly kept his ATP current, and is a CalTech graduate.


All that said, if the email above is legitimate, at least he was truthful albeit tactless and blunt.

 

[Oneflyer]

Considering the ease of creating a fake email, I've got to assume that this is a fake.

So Danny Martinez forwards the email to Redding, who then responds back to Martinez, but mistakenly sends it to the orginal sender? That doesn't even make sense.

 

[Wretched Wrench]

Considering the ease of creating a fake email, I've got to assume that this is a fake.

It's real.

Here is the follow-up spin:



Michael,



First, let me apologize. The email I drafted was not intended to go directly back to you. I would never respond to an employee so shortly without providing background and additional context. That being said – while the response may have been curt – it does reflect my personal view that each of us should be working together to solve the company’s tremendous challenges, not simply looking for opportunities to criticize and complain. It’s clear from your e-mail to Danny that you are frustrated, and I recognize that, but there have been some very positive things going on within the M&E organization.



AA management, TWU and the vast majority of employees have worked very hard to take a different path than our competitors and I’m very proud of the success we’ve had so far. One quick look around the airline industry – which includes a few airlines still in bankruptcy – is all it takes to understand the consequences of not working together, of not recognizing that the fate of all employees is tightly linked to the success of American Airlines.



If anything, my response was out of my own frustration because I believe we’ve proven that Working Together represents American’s best chance at long-term growth and sustained profitability. But it is an individual choice for each of us.



As always, I will be making my annual visits to several of the larger line maintenance stations over the next six months. I’ll work with the TWU to make JFK one of my first visits. I’m hopeful that you’ll join your colleagues in a constructive discussion on the issues that face us all.



Sincerely,



Bob

 

[Man of the People]

Nothing says I'm Sorry like a letter of resignation

It's real.

Here is the follow-up spin:
Michael,



First, let me apologize. The email I drafted was not intended to go directly back to you. I would never respond to an employee so shortly without providing background and additional context. That being said – while the response may have been curt – it does reflect my personal view that each of us should be working together to solve the company’s tremendous challenges, not simply looking for opportunities to criticize and complain. It’s clear from your e-mail to Danny that you are frustrated, and I recognize that, but there have been some very positive things going on within the M&E organization.



AA management, TWU and the vast majority of employees have worked very hard to take a different path than our competitors and I’m very proud of the success we’ve had so far. One quick look around the airline industry – which includes a few airlines still in bankruptcy – is all it takes to understand the consequences of not working together, of not recognizing that the fate of all employees is tightly linked to the success of American Airlines.



If anything, my response was out of my own frustration because I believe we’ve proven that Working Together represents American’s best chance at long-term growth and sustained profitability. But it is an individual choice for each of us.



As always, I will be making my annual visits to several of the larger line maintenance stations over the next six months. I’ll work with the TWU to make JFK one of my first visits. I’m hopeful that you’ll join your colleagues in a constructive discussion on the issues that face us all.



Sincerely,



Bob

 

[Chuck Schalk]

Bobs response,
First, let me apologize. The email I drafted was not intended to go directly back to you.

Translation in our terms,
oops, I am sorry Mike,I did not mean for you see how I really feel about you and your fellow mechanics. But let me do some damage control and try to tell you how well we are working together and your input Mike is important to the success of the company. (sarcasm of course)

 

[Bob Owens]

Considering the ease of creating a fake email, I've got to assume that this is a fake.

So Danny Martinez forwards the email to Redding, who then responds back to Martinez, but mistakenly sends it to the orginal sender? That doesn't even make sense.

Here is the source.

[email protected] <[email protected]>

 

[TWU informer]

This e-mail doesn't look good for the AMR Supreme PUP Bone-us Award Recipient.

Therefore, It has to be fake.

Let's give the man another huge bone-us so that he doesn't leave us and take his anti-employee, anti-mechanic, better than thou attitude to one of our competitors.

 

[Oneflyer]

This e-mail doesn't look good for the AMR Supreme PUP Bone-us Award Recipient.

Therefore, It has to be fake.

Let's give the man another huge bone-us so that he doesn't leave us and take his anti-employee, anti-mechanic, better than thou attitude to one of our competitors.

If its real, the stupidity is beyond comprehension and should not be tollerated.