Working At AA......

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

I didn't say that at all. In fact, American workers are some, if not, the most productive workers in the world. No thanks to unions that promote unproductive work rules and habits.

Amd the french shut down the country not 6 months ago.
protesting a 35 hour work week.
And we are lazy.

 

[Oneflyer]

Amd the french shut down the country not 6 months ago.
protesting a 35 hour work week.
And we are lazy.

France is a prime example of what happens when unions take over an economy. 20% unemployment, no one under 30 can get a real job, and the highly educated/talented workers are moving to other countries like the UK and Ireland.

 

[Garfield1966]

The only crew schedulers that move up are those that play the game?

BTW, are Shirley and Jason still there? They were always pretty cool and I haven't heard them answer the phones in a few months. This month on reserve it has been all new people.

How is the scheduling department now that big mouth is gone? (Roy)

Shirly retired, Jason seems to work a different desk every time I see him and no comment. We have had a few come over from the Pilot side and severla folks do quite a bit of trading around here.

I never said 'only'. I do belive that there are some very qualified schedulers up here who have been promoted and other who have been passed over. In any corporate environment, politics comes into play. To what extent I do not know. Currently I do not have the over whelming urge to get out of here and I have no urge to move up in Crew sched. When I do decide on a move, it will be to a different dept. and at that time, I will "play the game" to the extent that I need to / feel comfortable with in order to get what I want. Seems to me that is what we all do.

 

[Bagbelt]

Come to fac. maint. We just had another guy give his 2 week notice. It took us 3 months to hire him, but our starting pay is $10 below local market rates and he doesn't want to wait 5 years to max out. It was unheard of before for anyone to leave- what a waste of time and effort. There are plenty of Northwest guys available, but many of them are already working for contractors who are also paying more. Paying more up front pays for itself in the long run.

 

[groundcontrol]

Come to fac. maint. We just had another guy give his 2 week notice. It took us 3 months to hire him, but our starting pay is $10 below local market rates and he doesn't want to wait 5 years to max out. It was unheard of before for anyone to leave- what a waste of time and effort. There are plenty of Northwest guys available, but many of them are already working for contractors who are also paying more. Paying more up front pays for itself in the long run.

It seems to becoming a contractors world...makes you wonder what all Unions are thinking. I will never work for a contractor just because of principal, but clearly I will not be working at any Major either...I don't have 5 years to waste to become topped out. Experience should account for something...Having a Union onboard really doesn't help this situation at all. (I am pro union, it's just time for change)

 

[Wretched Wrench]

Come to fac. maint. We just had another guy give his 2 week notice. It took us 3 months to hire him, but our starting pay is $10 below local market rates and he doesn't want to wait 5 years to max out. It was unheard of before for anyone to leave- what a waste of time and effort. There are plenty of Northwest guys available, but many of them are already working for contractors who are also paying more. Paying more up front pays for itself in the long run.

Yup.

It is so sad that the good ones leave and the lops never leave. Over the long run, the quality of the work force is lowered, and the top performers who have not left are demoralized. For years, AA paid mechs less than others. Most of our new hires were rejects from other, better-paying airlines. We did get some good new hires, though, but many of them have left already.

AA has sown the seeds of its own destruction with its worship at the altar of Cheap Labor.

 

[Hopeful]

And constant complaining and claiming to do only what is necessary to not get fired is the way to keep those jobs in the US?

Perhaps realizing that the world is changing and becoming increasingly competitive and responding to that change by becoming better educated and more productive is a better solution?

Really?

The Rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer!

CEO's and upper executives are still getting obscene compensation packages. I guess the world is not changing for them!

 

[goingboeing]

I love my job with AA. But, I don't spend any time upset about how it "used to be." It's changed just since I came to work here in 2000. And, I got laid off for 17 months.

But, the job is what it is today, and it pays what it pays today. There's no point in worrying about what it used to be like because the days of 24 hour layovers in New York City, and 2 leg days are gone.

Make the most of it and enjoy. If you find you don't enjoy it, go do something else. Life is way too short to work at a job that makes you unhappy.

Just because someone voices out a complaint about something in their workplace does not mean they are completely unhappy with their job.
If people did not speak up how would management know when they have crossed too far over the line in bad decision making.
AA is still a good place to work despise all the bone head moves that management/TWU makes but it is a continious struggle trying to make things better for everyone.

 

[FWAAA]

Then once 9/11 happened Carty proved he was an even bigger loser than we thought he was by just hanging out and not making any moves to save the company as we slid further and further into the cesspool. He just left things business as usual instead of immediately cutting the schedule and workforce. Instead we just flew thousands of empty planes around the world for months on end with no passengers to be found anywhere near the terminals and with no passengers purchasing any tickets.

Compare the above nonsense to what actually happened:

On September 11, 2001, two of American's aircraft were hijacked and destroyed in terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in northern Virginia. On the same day, two United Air Lines aircraft were also hijacked and used in terrorist attacks. In addition to the loss of all passengers and crew on board the aircraft, these attacks resulted in untold deaths and injuries to persons on the ground and massive property damage. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration (the "FAA") closed the U.S. airspace (except for military operations) for several days.

Subsequent to the attacks and the resulting shutdown of the U.S. airspace, American announced that it planned to resume flying gradually until it reached approximately 80% of the schedule it flew prior to September 11, 2001. American also announced that, as a result of its schedule reduction and a sharp reduction in passenger traffic, it would reduce jobs by at least 20,000. American said that staff would be reduced in management and support staff groups, and all other groups across American, its wholly-owned subsidiary TWA Airlines LLC, and American Eagle Airlines, Inc., which is wholly-owned by AMR Corporation. American also plans to develop other programs to reduce its operating costs and conserve its financial resources.

http://www.shareholder.com/aa/EdgarDetail....1&SID=01-00

There's a future for you in the area of writing history textbooks for regimes who want to mislead. B)

 

[Bob Owens]

Wrong! I'm 61, and I'm currently on my 5th career. And, all of them have been wildly different. (When you were an English Lit major in college, you can't be too "sot" in your ways. )

How many kids are you supporting? But then again you are ntx.

I like what I do, I just dont like the way the clowns we have currently running the company are doing it.

Do like MCI said, go for Fed-Ex, UPS or SWA. Forget flight benifits they arent worth anything. Basically an airline giving you flight benifits is like working for a caterer who tells you that you can eat out of the dumpster.

 

[Garfield1966]

Forget flight benifits they arent worth anything. Basically an airline giving you flight benifits is like working for a caterer who tells you that you can eat out of the dumpster.

You must be working at the wrong caterer. My family of 5 just went to Europe. Outbound 2 in Y 2 in F (one bought a ticket as part of a tour) and then all back in F all for about $2,000.00. Would have been hard pressed to buy 5 round trip tickes in coach for that and we would not have been nearly as comfortable. Next year .. a Med cruise. Can't wait.

Compare the above nonsense to what actually happened:
http://www.shareholder.com/aa/EdgarDetail....1&SID=01-00

There's a future for you in the area of writing history textbooks for regimes who want to mislead. B)

Geez, if you are going to continue to reference sourced material we are just going to have to ask you to leave. We have a perfectly good conspiracy theory brewing here and you just traipse on in like you own the place and screw it up. I think that is pretty rude and I think you owe us all an appology. :angry:

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

My family of 5 just went to Europe.

And I'm sure they flew AA

 

[Wretched Wrench]

You must be working at the wrong caterer.

No, the analogy is apt. When a caterer or restaurateur has food it cannot sell, its value is zero dollars, so the employees are allowed to consume it.

At departure time, the value of a seat on an AA flight is zero dollars. At that time, the employees are allowed to consume it. Often for a charge.

In either case, the employees are not offered the product until its value has dropped to zero dollars.

 

[eolesen]

No, the analogy is apt. When a caterer or restaurateur has food it cannot sell, its value is zero dollars, so the employees are allowed to consume it.

At departure time, the value of a seat on an AA flight is zero dollars. At that time, the employees are allowed to consume it. Often for a charge.

In either case, the employees are not offered the product until its value has dropped to zero dollars.

Not really. While the sunk costs involved are analogous, there are variable costs associated with nonrev travel, mainly fuel burn.

AA carried about 3.4M nonrevs last year, and 80% of them flew in coach at little or no charge. Nonrev charges haven't changed in a few years, so I seriously doubt they're reflective of the current cost of fuel.

Assuming about a $10 increase in incremental fuel burned per nonrev, and that's about $34M in expense that was never covered by surcharges.

Personally, I'd rather see the people flying pay a fair price for the fuel offset than to have someone try to find yet another $34M in cost savings or concessions.

 

[Garfield1966]

And I'm sure they flew AA

The one who flew out had to go with a different carrier as AA was not one of the options and AA dose not fly to where she went. Other than that, it was all AA.

No, the analogy is apt. When a caterer or restaurateur has food it cannot sell, its value is zero dollars, so the employees are allowed to consume it.

At departure time, the value of a seat on an AA flight is zero dollars. At that time, the employees are allowed to consume it. Often for a charge.

In either case, the employees are not offered the product until its value has dropped to zero dollars.

He made the analogy of eating out of the "dumpster" which I equate with being worthless. I was merely pointing out that I took a family of % to Europe for pennies on the dallar. Hardly worthless IMO.