The Evolution Of The Parachute

[extwacaptain]

The Evolution Of The Parachute

When flying first began, we are told that if you went up in it, you hopefully came down with it. There was no way of â€bailing outâ€. There were no parachutes

Some time before WW11, a little worm was discovered and “enlisted†for the duration. They nick named him, (or her) SILKY. Beautiful ladies went barelegged until nylon became available, but “voila†the parachute was born.

After the war, SILKY’ efforts returned to the demands of the ladies wear industry and could be enjoyed going up and down the aisles of our airliners, adorning the legs of our F/As.

Parachutes were beginning to be made of nylon, but the fact that they were not a part of the onboard equipment did not go unnoticed by our F/As. Being extremely intelligent as well as beautiful, they devised their “own way out†when they decided it was time to leave. Normally it WASN’T a LUCKY pilot, but a handsome, wealthy passenger and a ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

Next, we find a passenger jumping out of an airplane with a sack of money. (We have a dog named after him.) This guy, didn’t even work in management, but still figured a way to use aviation to run off with a lot of money that really didn’t belong to him. He used a nylon chute, I believe.

In answer to my wife’s question: “Where are you going with this?’ I’m not sure. However, some top executives in the airline business have been paying a lot of attention to bailout procedures and know just “when†to pull that ripcord. They have even taught the worm to “spin†gold.

Their only problem being, finding friends when they land.


Randy Kramer

 

[Wretched Wrench]

"Their only problem being, finding friends when they land."

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They will probably belong to the same country clubs as before. You know, the ones our employer is paying for now. Does AA pay yearly or years in advance?

Anyone have any figures and dollar amounts on that?

Not to cavil, but people started parachuting from balloons in the late 1700s. First from an airplane was before WWI.

 

[skyangelnflight]

some top executives in the airline business have been paying a lot of attention to bailout procedures and know just “whenâ€￾ to pull that ripcord. They have even taught the worm to “spinâ€￾ gold.

Their only problem being, finding friends when they land.


Randy Kramer

You say yes, I say no,
You say stop, and I say go, go, go. Oh no.

You say goodbye and I say hello, hello, hello.
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello, hello, hello.
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

Hey-la hey-ba hello-a

Subject: Re: Las Colinas Country Club

Rick, thanks for your note. This rumor has been circulating for quite some time and it is not true. The company does not provide golf memberships to officers and we did not pay $400,000 on golf club memberships as the rumor alleges. Thanks for checking it out. Best regards/Jane Allen

You say yes, I say no, . . . .

CEOs can add millions to the value of their compensation by claiming other retirement perks without having to disclose them in regulatory filings. Besides his $9 million annual pension, retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch was granted free use of a company-owned luxury apartment in New York City—complete with flowers, cleaning services and postage—use of the company jet, country club memberships, a box at the opera, and more, which Welch himself valued
at over $2 million a year. He agreed to reimburse GE for these perks only after their existence was revealed in divorce papers his wife filed last September. :cop:

You say stop, and I say go, go, go. . . . .

American Airlines' ex-CEO Donald Carty, now age 56, is also having years added to his service in order to be eligible for a $1 million-plus annual pension. He resigned under fire at the end of April after angering workers (who, under threat of bankruptcy, had just accepted $1.8 billion in annual wage cuts) by hiding the existence of not only
a fat "retention" bonus plan for top executives, but also $41 million the company had set aside in a special trust to ensure that executives such as Carty would get their pensions even if the company filed for bankruptcy. 😳

You say goodbye and I say hello, hello, hello.

The "golden parachute" is another way CEOs have of ensuring their financial well-being. If their company is bought out, or should they resign or be fired, rather than face the unemployment line, they often receive a multimillion-dollar windfall.

Mirroring the golden parachute is the "golden hello," a signing bonus to lure a CEO to one company from another. After losing $220 million in 2002, electronics manufacturer Honeywell sent off its departing CEO with a $4 million bonus plus 200,000 shares of stock, then induced David Cote of defense contractor TRW to take the job with a
package valued at $69.5 million, including $3.375 million in cash guaranteed annually for 5 years, plus $25 million worth of stock and 2.2 million stock options.:wacko:

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello, hello, hello.

As these US executives secure their fortunes, they are pushing legislation that threatens the already shaky future of their own workers. One measure promoted by the airline industry would allow companies to postpone mandatory catch-up payments into their severely underfunded pension plans until 2008, then spreading out the payments over another 20 years.:disguise:

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.
Hey-la hey-ba hello-a

from:
1. US: CEO pay continued upward spiral in 2002
By Jeremy Johnson
3 June 2003

2. Jane Allen (ex vp of AA) response to f/a question

3. Beatles, goodbye, hello

 

[jimntx]

You say yes, I say no,
You say stop, and I say go, go, go. Oh no.

You say goodbye and I say hello, hello, hello.
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello, hello, hello.
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

Hey-la hey-ba hello-a

[/quote]
Loved it! The further I read in your post, the louder the Cher song, And the Beat Goes On, got in my head. 😀

 

[mga707]

Loved it! The further I read in your post, the louder the Cher song, And the Beat Goes On, got in my head. 😀

That's "SONNY AND Cher song..."!
the poor late Representative Bono still can't get any respect. He wrote it as well as singing on it. 😛

 

[skyangelnflight]

mga707: And the Beat Goes On

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Despite layoffs, CEOs feel no pain
Executives still rake it in as companies cut jobs, pensions

By MARY DEIBEL
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

Excess executive pay and perks got a new 2003 poster child in Donald Carty:
He got booted for giving seven-figure bonuses to top managers at American
Airlines even as it won $2 billion in pay and pension concessions and
additional layoffs to avoid bankruptcy.

The fact that Carty walked away with an $8.2 million pension payout plus 2.9
million stock options while his successor as chief executive officer, Gerard
Arpey, gets nothing from the company bonus plan may be a sign that times
have changed.

But not according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and
United for a Fair Economy.

Their 10th annual Labor Day report finds that:

Average CEO pay rose 44 percent in 2002 at the 50 firms with the most
layoffs during the 2001 recession, even though CEO pay overall was up just 6
percent in Business Week's 53rd annual executive-pay survey.

The typical CEO made $3.7 million last year compared with $5.1 million for
layoff leaders.

Boeing Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Phil Condit was paid $3.9 million in
2002, even as the airline industry suffered through the second year of the
worst downturn in commercial aviation history with Boeing announcing cuts of
more than 35,000 jobs since the downturn began.

Hewlett-Packard had 25,700 layoffs in 2001 and a 2002 pay package totaling
$4.1 million for chief executive officer Carly Fiorina.

Dennis Kozlowski, pocketed $71 million from
Tyco International in 2002 before being forced out midyear.
layoffs in 2001, 11,300.

Top executives pocketed an average $5.9 million compensation package in 2002
at the 30 companies with the largest deficits in pension plans --

CEOs were richly rewarded for avoiding federal taxes.
24 Fortune 500 companies with offshore subsidiaries or incorporation
headquarters for tax purposes, CEO average: $26.5 million between
2000 and 2002.

There also are untaxed awards of stock options to CEOs
Microsoft announced it would pay a dividend, with its
new 8-cents-a-share share payout yielding an after-tax windfall of $82
million to Microsoft founder Bill Gates alone on his 1.2 billion shares.

Sarah Anderson, an Institute for Policy Studies co-author, thinks
CEOs may be getting the message carried in recommendations that came out of
a Forbes magazine conclave held in Aspen, Colo., in June

High on Forbes' list of "ways to solve the executive pay mess" was: "It
doesn't look great to have the boss raking in a big raise when there are
layoffs or pay cuts down the line. Impose a wage freeze or even a cut for
the chief executive