jetcareers - View Single Post - United Airlines Plans 25 Percent Fewer Pilots, Flight Attendants....

mpenguin1 · January 30th, 2003, 16:18

Problems with United started before the Terrorist attacks, and for their "September 11" trouble United received a nice $900 million check from George Bush for their troubles. And since I am typing, let me vent a little, this is a company problem, not just managment only problem or a pilot only problem. Need to look at everything, the complete story, here are view points, whether right or wrong....

1. United's "Summer of Hell" - While the pilots were waging all out war on the very airline they "owned" and screwing the flying public far more than they were screwing UAL mismanagement. However, lest we not place all of the blame on UAL management, what the hell were the pilots thinking? While their passengers were already griping about exorbitantly high fares, didn't anyone at UAL ALPA figure out that with "industry leading wages" comes "industry leading prices"?

When the recession first hit in 2000, business travelers started to balk at paying high prices. They flew far less frequently, and when they did travel, they looked for lower-priced options, using everything from the Internet to discount airlines to Amtrak's high-speed train in the Northeast

The major carriers' revenues plummeted, but they were still left with the higher costs associated with their network systems. While the carriers experimented with a few changes to their fare structure and restrictions - such as doing away with the Saturday night stay on some busy business routes - most have kept their fare structure essentially the same, hoping that when the economy recovers, business travelers, with their thick wallets, will be back.

United employees definitely are responsible for this mess. Remember the summer of 2000, when United had its customer-infuriating pilot slowdown? Think that endeared UAL to its customers? Do you think if the many frequent fliers who switched and never came back were still UA customers it would be losing $7M per day?

And the end result was that a board controlled by the employees caved in and gave employees unsustainable pay increases that drove UAL into bankruptcy.

If it's management that's at fault & incompetent, well, the employees selected the management. When Jim Goodwin spoke the truth that UAL was facing bankruptcy a year ago, his bosses (the union reps on the board) had him thrown out on his a** and ignored the warning. No CEO can be hired by UAL unless the union board members agree, which means the CEO is hopelessly compromised from day 1.

Rick Dubinsky, the former head of United's pilot's union, famously said pilots didn't want to kill the golden goose, "We just want to choke it by the neck until it gives us every last egg." Well, the employees choked it a little too hard, didn't they? I think the goose expired

Everyone believes in capitalism until it's their turn to compete, then it's why me? “a few men” didn’t sink UAL, it took 80,000 shortsighted employees to do it.

January 30th, 2003, 16:18	#13
mpenguin1 Old Skool Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 10,661 Blog Entries: 5	Re: United Airlines Plans 25 Percent Fewer Pilots, Flight Attendants.... Problems with United started before the Terrorist attacks, and for their "September 11" trouble United received a nice $900 million check from George Bush for their troubles. And since I am typing, let me vent a little, this is a company problem, not just managment only problem or a pilot only problem. Need to look at everything, the complete story, here are view points, whether right or wrong.... 1. United's "Summer of Hell" - While the pilots were waging all out war on the very airline they "owned" and screwing the flying public far more than they were screwing UAL mismanagement. However, lest we not place all of the blame on UAL management, what the hell were the pilots thinking? While their passengers were already griping about exorbitantly high fares, didn't anyone at UAL ALPA figure out that with "industry leading wages" comes "industry leading prices"? When the recession first hit in 2000, business travelers started to balk at paying high prices. They flew far less frequently, and when they did travel, they looked for lower-priced options, using everything from the Internet to discount airlines to Amtrak's high-speed train in the Northeast The major carriers' revenues plummeted, but they were still left with the higher costs associated with their network systems. While the carriers experimented with a few changes to their fare structure and restrictions - such as doing away with the Saturday night stay on some busy business routes - most have kept their fare structure essentially the same, hoping that when the economy recovers, business travelers, with their thick wallets, will be back. United employees definitely are responsible for this mess. Remember the summer of 2000, when United had its customer-infuriating pilot slowdown? Think that endeared UAL to its customers? Do you think if the many frequent fliers who switched and never came back were still UA customers it would be losing $7M per day? And the end result was that a board controlled by the employees caved in and gave employees unsustainable pay increases that drove UAL into bankruptcy. If it's management that's at fault & incompetent, well, the employees selected the management. When Jim Goodwin spoke the truth that UAL was facing bankruptcy a year ago, his bosses (the union reps on the board) had him thrown out on his a** and ignored the warning. No CEO can be hired by UAL unless the union board members agree, which means the CEO is hopelessly compromised from day 1. Rick Dubinsky, the former head of United's pilot's union, famously said pilots didn't want to kill the golden goose, "We just want to choke it by the neck until it gives us every last egg." Well, the employees choked it a little too hard, didn't they? I think the goose expired Everyone believes in capitalism until it's their turn to compete, then it's why me? “a few men” didn’t sink UAL, it took 80,000 shortsighted employees to do it.