CNBC documentary on American Airlines

[LoadMasterC141]

It was a very interesting financial perspective on the worlds’ largest airline.

I would have liked to see a bit more from the pilot side; financials, force sizes, etc….

That old coot ex-president with his stupid story made me laugh. How he cut costs at an outstation by replacing the security guard with a guard dog and then putting the dog on “Part-Time”, should have been edited out. It was dumb, and made him look like a total knucklehead. Maybe that is what they were going for.

No matter how you slice it up though, it seems like American as a company has weathered a storm that most of the legacies did not. Would it have been better to raise fares rather than hose the workforce? Who knows. I certainly think it was pretty sly how management still got bonuses after all that.

The most startling 2 things were the differences in fares aboard the plane, and the lack of security on the cargo. I can just see Osama sitting in a cave watching that show thinking “Oh nice! The infidels are not inspecting their cargo on commercial airlines. Mustafah! Bring me some martyrs and lets’ get it on!”

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by LoadMasterC141

I can just see Osama sitting in a cave watching that show thinking “Oh nice! The infidels are not inspecting their cargo on commercial airlines.

The show didn't address the fact that there are security measures for some of that cargo that occur before it ever gets in the airplane.

The reporter seemed amazed that the US mail wasn't inspected by AA, but didn't take into consideration that the US mail has their own security screening.

[LoadMasterC141]

Oh yeah of course they do. I am sure there is plenty of screening going on outside of what the airline does, and they did address it to a small extent, but it still seems like there are gaps to me, more particularly in the cargo than the mail.

[Blue Side Up]

excellent show, really enjoyable.

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by LoadMasterC141

That old coot ex-president with his stupid story made me laugh. How he cut costs at an outstation by replacing the security guard with a guard dog and then putting the dog on “Part-Time”, should have been edited out. It was dumb, and made him look like a total knucklehead. Maybe that is what they were going for.

That's the kind of humor someone from a completely different generation could appreciate.

[777forever]

Seems like the pilots have to do alot of work between addressing the FAs and worrying about special passengers etc. Seems to me the Fedex and UPS guys have less headaches. I can't believe that LA flight made $200!

[ChrisH]

I coudn't believe the CEO had the nerve to say he was accepting hand outs, when he was asked about his $600K salary, and how it is lower than other CEO's.

[LoadMasterC141]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

That's the kind of humor someone from a completely different generation could appreciate.

The thing is, it was not meant to be humorous. He was telling what he called a "true story" of how he saved AMR money.

Seems like the pilots have to do alot of work between addressing the FAs and worrying about special passengers etc. Seems to me the Fedex and UPS guys have less headaches. I can't believe that LA flight made $200!

I saw a report on Continental and they said the average profit per flight is around $35, so this seemed high. The other flight they said made $8410 profit. That is REALLY good!

[GrantHubbell]

Originally Posted by 777forever

hmmm....Executive bonuses come to mind

Well those are never going to go away so look beyond that!

[Doug Taylor]

Cargo on pax aircraft goes thru a lot less screening than you think. if it's from a "known shipper", aww, nevermind.