Worker Fury Prompts Airline Exec Givebacks (American Airlines)

www.nynewsday.com ^ | April 18, 2003, 6:48 PM EDT | The Associated Press

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

DALLAS -- When the week began, American Airlines' rank-and-file held the power to keep the world's largest carrier out of bankruptcy.

By week's end, however, the pressure had shifted toward the company's executives as plans to give them bonuses and protect their pensions threatened to undermine employees' willingness to sacrifice their own wages and benefits.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Mr. Carty has to go.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Mr. Carty, you lied. You took our pensions, and you stealthily funded & protected your own from a bankruptcy judge. You as well as our other members of management should be ashamed. Step down now!

[xJones]

In announcing the turnabout, the company's chief executive, Don Carty, was contrite about the stir.

"Those executives who have made the personal commitment to remain with American during this financial crisis, myself included, are not here solely for monetary reasons and we have all agreed to give up these retention payments, in order to give our employees confidence in management's on-going commitment to shared sacrifice," he said. However, the company said it would keep the pension agreements in place; that could still prove to be an issue with the labor unions.

They're asking all the workers to take cuts, but they've still got "golden parachutes"? Whoopsie, that is bad!

[kdf1]

This is a rare time when I agree with the union.

[Beck_isright]

The word shame is not in an executives nor politicians vocabulary. Honor is not either for most of them.

[lilylangtree]

I read something about this about 2 days ago. Noticed that the pilots, ground crew and flight attendants unions took a substantial pay cut but management didn't take nearly a cut. Could see problems with this arrangement.

[Henchman]

How did ENRON miss these clowns?

[tubebender]

I heard about the sweet deal yesterday and said this ain't gonna fly. If those pensions aren't funded they have to go also unless the unions pensions are funded and safe. If they are not funded, we the tax payers will pick up the tab I'm afraid...

[bneal]

We tried to tell them on Thursday when they were ripping us to shreads.

[SAJ]

Probably right, I'm sorry to say.

The indisputable fact is that the airlines' traditional business model has become completely invalid. However, the prevailing political winds are such that there will likely be several more taxpayer-funded bailouts before the idiots in D.C. come to understand that this industry, as now constituted, is just the modern day version of the buggy-whip industry of 100 years ago, with a dash of the passenger railroad industry thrown in.

[MeekOneGOP]

When economic times are good, management/labor relations are strained. When you have a 9-11 event that slows consumer confidence and CRUSHES an industry like the Airlines, relations are terrible because of the urgency of the economic disaster that now looms (bankruptcy). (The airline industry has ALWAYS been a roller coaster of an industry, btw. Even before 9-11).

If times were still good, NOBODY would care about management's perks except the union execs and some union members. These perks are not unusual in business, but are a major sticking point for unions. They always have been and I imagine always will be. It's the nature of distrust that unions have of management. By the way, wearing managements shoes isn't an easy job. You have to make decisions, and some of those decisions will always make someone unhappy. (Believe me, I was a Purchasing Manager for 18 years and dealt with folks at all management levels in the company. I also dealt with corporate employees, suppliers and subordinates). One could imagine that at the TOP management level at a company as large as AMR, those decisions can make a LOT of folks unhappy. Evidence this chain of events at AMR.

Just my 2 cents, and worth both pennies. :O)

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Did you all hear the Flight Attendants are going ahead with a new vote? (happy laugh - happy laugh!)

Oh...and this one is beautiful...the "protected pension plan (scheme)" was apparently instituted at AA in 1985? But the kicker is that supposedly the pensions were funded in October of 2002?!

Mr. Carty and his Cartel need to go...and now!

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I agree with you, Meek. But this "slip under the radar" and the way some are saying we were "blackmailed" into a rushed vote is too despicable to look the other way again.

These are new times in this country, and I attribute almost all of it to the leadership in the USA right now. When Clinton & Co. were in charge, look at how much corruption went on, and was almost allowed. Now that we have a leadership who prays and looks to the Bible for moral guidance, it's been trickling downward.

And yes...we would have much rather been hired at Southwest (couldn't afford the type-ratings back then) because of the fun atmosphere, the comraderie; again, look at the airline's CEO/leadership. Isn't his salary below 400k?

[MeekOneGOP]

And yes...we would have much rather been hired at Southwest (couldn't afford the type-ratings back then) because of the fun atmosphere, the comraderie; again, look at the airline's CEO/leadership. Isn't his salary below 400k?

Kellaher runs a tight ship, top to bottom. The remain profitable, while all the rest wallow in misery.

[MeekOneGOP]

s/b TheY

[aristeides]

If the pensions were funded in October 2002, doesn't that mean the contributions constituted taxable income to the executives at that point? Hefty tax bill, I would imagine. Or did the corporation pick up the tax tab too?