satchip

I wonder how SWAPA will do when their management does decide to start outsourcing to feed them? When all that organic growth is gone and they need feed to fill their new international routes. To credit the union for scope protection when it's never really been challenged is a bit disingenuous.

DAL 88 Driver

I could be wrong, but I don't think their management would ever treat any employee group like that. SWA has recognized throughout its history that its key advantage is the esprit de corps of everyone in the company, from baggage handlers all the way up through management. They are very careful to not only maintain this, but to cultivate it. That's not to say that they've always been 100% perfect, but they are the only airline today that really, truly puts this into practice. I cannot imagine them ever throwing that away. The bean counters don't understand this because they can't quantify it. But smart management understands the intangible benefits of this kind of employee philosophy and won't give in to the temptation of phantom cost savings suggested by bean counters who only understand and care about what they can quantify. It's the difference between knowing what really makes a business successful and stepping over a dollar to save a nickel (the model of management in the rest of the industry).

tsquare

When did JB get a union?

tsquare

CE Woolman used to say exactly the same thing. The bottom line is the bottom line, and when SWA management NEEDS to do it.. they will. It is what they are paid to do. These are the good ol' days at SWA.

tomgoodman

Woolman and the three CEOs that followed him (Dolson, Beebe, and Garrett) actually practiced what they preached. After that it changed.

tsquare

Yes I realize that, and Kelly is the first after Herb. Sometime down the road they will have a CEO that wasn't raised on Herb.. (nice double entendre', no?) and the culture will undergo a change.. It is inevitable..

shiznit

T is right....A rare feat for a Knoxville grad!!!! WAR D@MN EAGLE!

DAL 88 Driver

So how well has that worked out for the "bottom line" at DAL? What is our net profit over the time period since the change in philosophy?

You could be right. Some CEO may come down the line at SWA and decide to throw away the key ingredient of their success... just like we did here at DAL. But I don't think that's a given. Especially with all the examples they have to look at in this industry showing how not to do it.

Anyway, only time will tell. But my prediction is that, the day SWA gets rid of their employee friendly philosophy, is the day they become mostly unsuccessful going forward.

tsquare

That's kind of a silly question, but OK.. I'll play... Where would DAL have been if they hadn't been able to shed our retirement plans? How much more would all of that cost the bottom line..

Don't get me wrong.. I am no fan at all of what has happened over the last 10 years... but the bottom line is the bottom line. With margins as thin as they are in this industry, I am amazed that anybody EVER turns a profit...

satchip

I think you can see the beginning of this with the AT merger. The growth has stagnated at SWA that kept the employee groups happy. The pilots are not totally on board with this merger. If the SLI goes badly ie not a staple, SWAPA expects GK to abandon the merger if they don't like it. That won't happen. The love fest between the two may end and management will treat them like any other labor group.

All conjecture on my part but you can see the possibilities.