There's Self-help and then there is self help. Looks like the UAL pilots are already doing it.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/ar...amp;Symbol=UAUA
A recent letter from management cited that "morale is at the lowest point its ever been". Was the belt breakdown at JFK just a coincidence? Who knows? Who can prove otherwise? Could they have fixed it sooner if they really wanted to? Could they have found a way to improvise around the malfunction? My guess is a more motivated workforce could have made what was a major fiasco a minor glitch. Perhaps its just bad Karma.
If the status quo suits management just fine their internal communications certainly don't reflect that. $20,000/year in savings isnt worth it if it means that the workers sit back and let the company lose that in a day and if the company continue on this path, as it seems management is determined to do then Bk may be more likely than you say. Hopefully the stockholders will try to salvage their investment and get management to realize that you cant bully performance out of your workers for very long. They got away with it for five years, the workers just dont care anymore-thats why they dont have to furlough Flight Attendants-enough of them had enough.
Good post TP..
AA is so used to the TWU "doing it all" in bed that they forgot one thing....you can only beat people so much....As for the JFK baggage fiasco....who knows....but from an aircraft maintenance perspective,,,we get chastised for delays in the minutes to delays by the hours...Morale is killing this company, but it is not solely the fault of the workforce....management has to take some responsibility...
The company has defended executive pay and PUPS to keep somewhat competitive in order to maintain the "key" talent during the troubled times. But what good is compensating the key talent if they failed to realize the morale would destroy the company more than the economy will.
In the past we had the VP of line maintenance tell us in the hangar break room that if we don't like it at AA, feel free to leave and that we have options....Technically that is a valid statement, but is that something a "key talented" executive should be responding to employee issues?
The $20,000 a year that each mechanic gave back to the company not to mention what every other employee lost paled in comparison to the what the executives got back year after year since their alleged concessions..
You know how the anti unionists who post here say that union work rules are outdated and need to be re-addressed to compete in today's world?"
Well, so are the mantras of "you're lucky to have a job" and " if you don't like it, you can leave."
This company is doing nothing to improve morale except for that of the executives by guaranteeing them their PUPS....
Well guess what? the execs can hurt their arms patting themselves on the back all they want, but it is the ramp person making sure the bag gets to where its going, it is the agent's attitude that the passenger usually deals with first followed by the flight attendant's, it is the pilot flying the machine safely and it is the mechanic giving them an airworthy aircraft...
These are the front line people that usually make or break a passengers opinion of AA and all we get is "you're lucky to have a job!"
What a management team...