Special Jetwire

[WeAAsles]

And Adam had this to say only in December:
 
This stock is too cheap
American Airlines' rock-bottom earnings multiple -- less than seven times a very conservative estimate of 2016 EPS -- implies that investors are very skeptical about its ability to maintain (let alone grow) its earnings in 2016 and beyond.
American Airlines is using this opportunity to buy back tons of stock. Through the first three-quarters of 2015, the company spent $2.5 billion on share repurchases, and it currently plans to buy back another $3.5 billion of stock by the end of 2016.
These buybacks are driving a sharp reduction in American Airlines' share count, accelerating its EPS growth. This EPS growth will probably lead to a higher earnings multiple eventually -- rewarding patient investors.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/21/american-airlines-profit-may-rise-in-2016-after-al.aspx

Only 4 months later and it seems like young Adam may be losing his nerve a little there? 
 

 

[Tim Nelson]

i have had 7 or 8 CEOs and Doug Parker has done a helluva job compared to every other CEO i have worked under or even heard about. 
 
I have no opinion on his salary but Im disappointed his team hasnt addressed our wages. He seems to have come through on his word, as exhibited by him granting the stews even more money, and he voluntarily coughed up profit sharing to us even though it appears our union may cancel it once again since dues are not based on it. Hopefully, our union comes to its senses and signs the profit sharing pledge.
 
regards,

 

[WeAAsles]

i have had 7 or 8 CEOs and Doug Parker has done a helluva job compared to every other CEO i have worked under or even heard about. 
 
I have no opinion on his salary but Im disappointed his team hasnt addressed our wages. He seems to have come through on his word, as exhibited by him granting the stews even more money, and he voluntarily coughed up profit sharing to us even though it appears our union may cancel it once again since dues are not based on it. Hopefully, our union comes to its senses and signs the profit sharing pledge.
 
regards,

Seriously Tim you do know that our Flight Attendant Professionals find the term Stewardess or especially "Stews" rather offensive.

This isn't the 1960's and you certainly aren't Tony Curtis. How about a small modicum of respect especially since you publicly put your name out there and work for the airline?

Your lingo is like something out of an old John Holmes porno movie or something. Yuck.

 

[2ndGENAMT]

The comments on the Jetnet site under the Special Jetwire IS entertaining though!

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

i have had 7 or 8 CEOs and Doug Parker has done a helluva job compared to every other CEO i have worked under or even heard about. 
 
I have no opinion on his salary but Im disappointed his team hasnt addressed our wages. He seems to have come through on his word, as exhibited by him granting the stews even more money, and he voluntarily coughed up profit sharing to us even though it appears our union may cancel it once again since dues are not based on it. Hopefully, our union comes to its senses and signs the profit sharing pledge.
 
regards,

You must not have heard of a guy named CRANDALL !!

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

no matter what he does or get paid - folks on here will not be happy until he is gone and company is in liquidation

 
It's a cheap and useless publicity stunt.
 
If he was doing such a great job, it should be easy to justify something along the lines of 'I'm getting paid $ because the company is better in X,Y, Z than the competition."
 
Announcing that my compensation is stock and 1/3 less than my peers is amateur.
 
 

 Let's see I've been living under pay cuts for over 13 years now. I mean come on even in December 2014 Doug could of giving every one a raise. But no it was tied into if you had a jcba are not.

 
This isn't his fault.  Take this complaint to your union.
 

i have had 7 or 8 CEOs and Doug Parker has done a helluva job compared to every other CEO i have worked under or even heard about.

 
Seriously?

 

[conehead777]

It's a cheap and useless publicity stunt.
 
If he was doing such a great job, it should be easy to justify something along the lines of 'I'm getting paid $ because the company is better in X,Y, Z than the competition."
 
Announcing that my compensation is stock and 1/3 less than my peers is amateur.
 
 

 
This isn't his fault.  Take this complaint to your union.
 

 
Seriously?

i disagree with you the 4 percent Christmas of 2014 should of been for every body with no strings attached . Believe me the union knows how I feel about that to. Bob Crandall would have.

 

[Tim Nelson]

You must not have heard of a guy named CRANDALL !!

I never worked under Crandall. From my perspective, Parker has been the best CEO (As far as doing his job and keeping an airline flying competitively). And I think he has more fair with labor than any previous ceo i have worked under but im not saying he clears the bar yet. He keeps saying we will be the highest paid but last I check, we are now the lowest paid by $5. I have hope things work out though.

regards,

 

[WeAAsles]

I never worked under Crandall. From my perspective, Parker has been the best CEO (As far as doing his job and keeping an airline flying competitively). And I think he has more fair with labor than any previous ceo i have worked under but im not saying he clears the bar yet. He keeps saying we will be the highest paid but last I check, we are now the lowest paid by $5. I have hope things work out though.
regards,

Many people at AA who have been around for awhile have a misguided perception of the man they call today Uncle Bob. The only reason they like him is because he had photographic memory and would be able to recall your name and everything you told him about you years later and he would come out to the ramp and put himself in the thick of things.

But they seem to completely forget the adversarial approach he had with the Unions and all the issues he had with Labor. They need to go back and maybe read some of the NY Times archives to remind themselves. I put in a search Bob Crandall 1983 and this was just the first item that came up. Maybe I'll look for more?

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/24/business/blunt-talk-on-the-phone.html

Edit #1

http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1997/04/28/225523/index.htm

Edit #2 (Read the last paragraph in particular)

http://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/bob-crandall-flies-off-the-handle/

Edit # 3 (1981)

http://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/07/12/American-Airlines-Robert-Crandall-says-unions-must-cede-restrictive-work-rules-NEWLN-Crandall-warns-or-we-will-literally-not-be-in-business-increase-productivity/7550344708637/

Edit # 4 (And Crandall had 1200 people trained to PERMANENTLY replace the striking Attendants)

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-11-23/news/9311230196_1_denise-hedges-binding-arbitration-professional-flight-attendants

That's the man they look up to. There Uncle Bob. SMH.

 

[WeAAsles]

When people speak of reverence towards Robert Crandall this is what runs through my mind.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

 

[eolesen]

Bob's leadership made AA what it was in the 1990's, which was a powerhouse cash generating machine. AA could have easily floundered like Pan Am and TWA did.

Doesn't matter who the CEO is --

1) When the airline is growing, people love the leadership team

2) When the airline is stagnating or shrinking, people hate the leadership team

 

[WeAAsles]

Bob's leadership made AA what it was in the 1990's, which was a powerhouse cash generating machine. AA could have easily floundered like Pan Am and TWA did.Doesn't matter who the CEO is --1) When the airline is growing, people love the leadership team2) When the airline is stagnating or shrinking, people hate the leadership team

Of course AA could have gone the route of Eastern, Pan Am or TWA if it were not for the mans ideas and risk taking. But the Uncle Bob mindset is in error unless people liked having an Uncle who enjoyed beating them.

The starve the dog story is really all I needed to read to understand the mans philosophy.

1997

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/12/business/this-lead-dog-still-barks-but-has-a-bit-less-bite.html?pagewanted=all

 

[700UW]

I remember the time he removed one olive from the salad on board to save a million and the public uproar.

 

[FWAAA]

$40,000 in savings, not a million.

By now, it is the stuff of legend: in the 1980's, Robert L. Crandall, then the head of American Airlines, came up with the idea of removing just one olive from every dinner salad served to passengers. They would never notice, let alone squawk, he figured, and the airline could save some money. He was right, to the tune of $40,000 a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/business/and-to-penny-pinching-wizardry.html?pagewanted=all

 

[WeAAsles]

$40,000 in savings, not a million.http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/business/and-to-penny-pinching-wizardry.html?pagewanted=all

Under Arpey AA may not have stated it publicly but they started to skimp on Pistachios as part of the First Class experience. I started to notice every time I would dig through the little bowl I was finding less and less of that delicious treat. I remember one flight where I only found 2 lousy nuts.

http://thedish.plated.com/pistachios-expensive/

And this is when I totally stopped buying Hagen Daz. I'd rather pay more than have these companies try and deceive me. Can't get around the now 4LB bag of sugar anymore either. And if the chips continue to settle there's only going to be two left in the bag. (Always buy by Unit price)

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/03/haagen-dazs-will-decrease-pints-ice-cream-tubs-ben-and-jerrys.html