Us Airways' True Problem Created By

[FlyingHippie]

A bit out of my element here as I am not totally up on the history of US. But one thing stands out to me as a "Smoking Gun" in determining who form the past set the stage for the future.

When Piedmont & PSA were bought, who created the "Mirror Image" program?

Also wasn't there a young up and coming Piedmont executive name of Gordon Bethune? who when passed over for promotion left and went on to become arguably the top executive in the airline industry?

If as I believe the answer is Ed Colodny then he is surely GUILTY and is to blame, just on those 2 points alone for the current US predicament.

Now we are stuck with "Gordon Lite" which to paraphrase is "More numbers, less leadership"

PineyBob, you need to read Gordon's book "From Worst To First". In it he has some memorable recollections of his dealings with US management. Gordon dug his own path out of US, not the other way around. He simply alienated himself from usair's management team. I am not throwing "bananas" at you here. Read the book and find the banana remarks and you'll get it. Gordon even admitted he didn't help the situation much. There you go.

 

[Hello Newman]

Had Ed Colodny not been forced to retire 1991 by the company charter, we would
not be in the mess we are in today.....

 

[The Mole]

Ed Colodny was a kind person with a huge sense of vision. You might not like what he was saying, but you respected his opinion and decision. He is nothing close to a Tom Davis, but was a decent leader. It is easy to go back into history pointing out the mistakes by our former CEO’s. He turned a regional airline into a nice feeder system, which was unheard of in its day. Lets not forget his battle with Carl Icahn, I am sure that most employees would not be happy working for this corporate raider. While the pros outweigh the cons during his leadership years, he could have left the company in a better position in many areas.

USAir instituted the "Mirror Image" program, and it is my personal opinion that they only saw the USAir reflection; though USAir did incorporate some PI ideas. This was essential within the pilots group. The assignment of standardization of the various pilot groups that resulted from the mergers was accomplished by a concept described as mirror-imaging. This involved developing a team of check pilots from each airline to establish standardized procedures for the fleet of aircraft. I am sure that the current pilots on this board could explain the procedure better than myself, since I am not a pilot. It is my understanding that the check airman from USAir, PI and PSA were assigned full-time to the team, which was designated to complete the mirror-image training. It is not an easy task to re-write the pilot handbooks and flight operations manuals.

If the merger had to take place, PI should have been the ones buying USAir, not the other way around. On the other hand, I honestly believe that had PI purchased US Air, USAir would have hurt PI, especially in merging the two cultures, as we have witnessed already with these two airlines. We are now one family that need to support each other as we fight off the LCCs and defend our hubs.

PI was excellent at offering short, low cost flights...USAir just screwed up the whole thing. WN would have had a run for their money. PI would not have allowed them to make a major presence in BWI. They were an excellent airline with a large and dedicated following of customers.

Any of the mechanics from the INT hangar will remember this story. The week of the merger, USAir management told the cleaners to dispose of anything with a PI logo on it; or if too big, tape over the PI logo, even the PI coffee cups were put in the garbage. Unfortunately, there was a large amount of usable products that could have been used, but were disposed because they had the PI logo. A front line employee asked the son of Tom Davis what would his father do if PI had purchased USAir…and there was a large supply of products with the USAir logo on them…. Tom Davis would use the product until the inventory was emptied, whether it had a PI or USAir logo on it.

 

[PITbull]

Mole,

Not quite sure why you are giving this hx lesson, but if you remember PI was placed up "for sale" by your parent company (I think it was a railroad company) in my recollection. If U didn't buy PI, someone surely would have, and perhaps, Icahn or someone who didn't know how to run an airline and wouldn't have integrated ALL the employees. USair was not up "for sale", so, there wasn't going to be an airline acquiring us, unless it was "hostile" take over, and there was that threat, hence the "poison pill" theory of "bigger is better".

 

[Kev3188]

"Do you happen to know if it is still in print? Sounds like a wondeful read."

Piney--

To answer your questions, the book is still in print, and it's well worth whatever the list price. It's also an amazingly quick read (a good way to pass time in 3C?).

 

[FlyingHippie]

The Mole, funny how the airline that was totally screwed up ending up buying this so called perfect Piedmont airline. I don't get it? When it came to making money (at the time) there was no contest, usair made a lot of money. You can go on and on about Tom Davis using the cups, problem is, a lot of your aircraft were pieces of junk. It cost the company a fortune to maintain this fleabag fleet. Everybody knows it. In retrospect, USAir, PSA, and Piedmont should have stayed stand alone companies under the USAir Group. I think everyone would have been happier. I know I would have.

 

[FlyingHippie]

PineyBob you can get the book at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books
It's a good read, but I gotta tell ya Gordo must have dislocated his shoulder patting himself on the back so much.

 

[FlyingHippie]

Mole,

Not quite sure why you are giving this hx lesson, but if you remember PI was placed up "for sale" by your parent company (I think it was a railroad company) in my recollection. If U didn't buy PI, someone surely would have, and perhaps, Icahn or someone who didn't know how to run an airline and wouldn't have integrated ALL the employees. USair was not up "for sale", so, there wasn't going to be an airline acquiring us, unless it was "hostile" take over, and there was that threat, hence the "poison pill" theory of "bigger is better".

PITbull, they sure liked those raises and better benefits. Yet still trashed and continue to trash the company. What a shander!

 

[BoeingBoy]

PitBull,

For the record, Norfolk & Southern purchased a chunk of PI in response to Air Florida making an attempt to buy the airline. They were never the "parent company" (that was Piedmont Aviation) but just a major investor (maybe someone else remembers what % of the stock they owned).

The railroad didn't put PI up for sale, but they did make an offer to purchase the entire company, with the end result being that US Air won the bidding that followed. There was some speculation that the railroad "put the airline in play" by making the offer, wanting only to sell their stake. They did end up making a tidy profit on their holdings, but I suppose the truth is known by only a handful of people and I am certainly not one of them.

Now that the history lesson is over, my belief is that there is little (no?) value in looking back a decade and a half to point the finger of blame. In our profession there is a time-worn truth - a crash never results from a single event. There is always a chain of events/decisions that that culminate in the crash. Break any link in that chain and the crash is prevented. This truism is so universally accepted, that our modern comcept of CRM (Crew Resourse Management for the uninitiated) is based on it.

Looking back, it is easy to say that "uncle Ed" may have forged a few of the first links in the chain that we are dragging, but there have been many opportunities since his tenure for that chain to be broken.

Happy Valentines Day, Snookums

Jim

 

[blueoceans]

If I remember right, Piedmont Airlines was to go on a buying spree with help from the majority holder, Norfolk and Southern. The railroad, instead, decided to accept an offer from US Air and "took the money and ran." The US buyout of PI lead to the common remark "Delta's prayers have been answered."

 

[blueoceans]

" I don't get it? When it came to making money (at the time) there was no contest, usair made a lot of money. "

US Air was losing money at the time they bought profitable Piedmont Airlines...probably due to their whole PSA purchase fiasco the year before.

 

[700UW]

" I don't get it? When it came to making money (at the time) there was no contest, usair made a lot of money. "

US Air was losing money at the time they bought profitable Piedmont Airlines...probably due to their whole PSA purchase fiasco the year before.

US Air bought PSA and PI both in the same year, PSA was merged into US in April of 89 and PI in August of 89.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Here's a rant by Bill Maher that's pretty on target.

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/index.html

February 06, 2004

MAHER: All right. It is time for this week's New Rules!

Hippie -

If the Maher's southerner dig was aimed at me, let me clue you in:

Nycbusdriver was born and raised in northern New Jersey.

I would rather be on a bread line in Manhattan than King of North Carolina.

Does that shed any light on my perspective?

 

[nycbusdriver]

USA320,

If you were here on our property then, Colodney bought Piedmont as a "poison pill" response to not being bought or taken over by the likes of Icahn or Lorenzo. He even said that and that was reported in the media....the idea was to get B-I-G, so no one could buy us. We bought PSA at the same time.

There was a "rationale" for this back then. Your hx escapes you. Presently, this current mangement has the ability to implement "the plan" without concessions. As Boeing boy said in another thread, they always had the tools to address and take steps to increase revenue.....they just chose not to do it, or were not focused to be "inclined". Hey, their your heros, and that's where you lose me.

No one said that getting big quickly was not a good idea. Getting big then totally, irresponsibly, undeniably botching the job was Colodny's first huge goof. He's responsible for setting up a conglomeration of airlines with cost structures that were unsustainable almost from the day the operations merged.

USAir's cost structure was a ticking time bomb, and Colodny didn't went cluelessly on with blinders firmly in place. He had a "regulated" mindset long after every other CEO in the business realized that the paradigms had changed in 1978 with the advent of the Airline Deregulation Act. Colodny's "generosity" in bringing the fat, bloated USAir pay and working conditions to the lean PSA and Piedmont operations was classic hubris. "We know how to run an airline."

Well, Ed, NO YOU DON'T and we are still reaping the seeds you sowed back in 1987.

 

[tim]

Here's a rant by Bill Maher that's pretty on target.

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/index.html

February 06, 2004

MAHER: All right. It is time for this week's New Rules!

Hippie -

If the Maher's southerner dig was aimed at me, let me clue you in:

Nycbusdriver was born and raised in northern New Jersey.

I would rather be on a bread line in Manhattan than King of North Carolina.

Does that shed any light on my perspective?

Wow…north versus south

I myself prefer the southern gentleman and avoid the abrasive northern attitude like the plague.

And I don't wear the "I Love NY Button"