Here's the text...
"My name is Ray Rogers, I'm the proxy for [and the opinion of] Michelle Richardson, representing 747 chairs. You know, when judge Kendall, in 1999, ordered the pilots to go back to work, he made a statement. He said if you were to look up "bad labor relations" in the dictionary, you would have an American Airlines logo beside it. So, I have to ask some questions here today before I can cast my ballot for the election of directors.
Now last year, Mr. Parker, you made over 18 million dollars. Mr. Horton took, uh, 19 million dollars home, and Dan Garton, who was the president of American Eagle, uh, his compensation was more than 10 million dollars. Now, I'm not sure if the information I have is correct, [inaudible for a bit] ...the board of directors get very well taken of, too, and many members of the board of directors, in fact, all of them also have other, other outside sources and the chairman of the board as well.
Now, I read an article in the Tulsa World and I gotta find out if what they said is true. They said that the American, that American offered its, uh, pilots at American Envoy a 10 year contract and they're seeking 43 million dollars in concessions and pay cuts. Now, the new pilots would make $23,000 dollars a year, and the 10 year contract, uh, would allow pilots to make up to $38,000 dollars. There would be a cap after four years. Um, now, I know that the pilots haven't received any meaningful raises since 2004 and that pilot training costs can exceed 100,000 dollars. Now, is it true that an American Airlines pilot at one of your, basically your feeder airlines, would start out at $23,000 a year and be capped at $38,000? And that would be part of a 10 year contract? Is that what twenty-seven hundred pilots were asked to vote on, which they turned down overwhelmingly? And, uh, is it true? Are these, are these facts true, that were printed in the Tulsa newspaper?"
Doug Parker replies,
"Is that the question? Thanks, um, first off, um, we are, at the end of this, going to have a presentation. I'm happy to answer all business related questions. But right now, as for the nominees, I'm happy to answer your question now, just for, so we can get to the formal part of this meeting, um, know this: there will be plenty of time afterwards for all sorts of business related questions, um, but nonetheless, uh, to answer your question, I'm not certain as to whether the Tulsa World facts are exactly right, um, but what I do know is, um, as it relates to, um, the Envoy
pilots, um, we asked, uh, we put forward a proposal that would make, um, the Envoy, uh, airline competitive with other providers and, uh, they elected not to ratify that agreement, which is their choice and that's, and that's where we are. They're an important part of the airline, they will be an important part of the airline, um, but they were, they were, they were, um, they were given a proposal they rejected, so-
Ray Rogers interrupts,
"How, how can American justify... I'll give you an example. I fly quite a bit, so I had to take a commuter airline. This was some years ago. I flew into Missouri and I
had to get over to Illinois because I'm a commuter. And I was sitting right up front, and at that time, you had the curtain up front, and I noticed, and this is no lie now, that the pilots up there were nodding off, to my chagrin. And I said, well, I better speak up, which I did.
And I found out at that time from those pilots that they were making, I think it was between 14 and 16 thousand dollars a year. Now, does American Airlines, that's a pretty proud name. I've flown American a lot. When I look at these kinds of offers, I have to think of it more as a McDonald's airline. Or a Burger King airline. Not an American Airline. How can you justify, when you consider what the directors and the top executives are getting, how can you justify a contract offer like that?
Now, I know you have three feeder airlines, and what I would probably look at and see what's happening now is, perhaps there's going to be whipsawing of the employees within the American system. I mean some airlines used to set up a non-union, a kind of double-breasted outfit. Right now, seems it to be more internal. But again, how, I ask again, how - and I'll ask the board of directors - how can you justify offering a contract like that to any employees? How do you justify it? Just answer the question. How do you justify it? Otherwise, I'm going to have to refer to American as McDonald's, okay, not American Airlines, but McDonald's airlines. Thank you."
Doug Parker responds,
"Thank you. Um, okay, again, um, we, we justify it, um, based upon, first, first and foremost, the pilots, um, and all the professionals that American Airlines have are, um, extremely, uh, confident and professional, uh, aviators, uh, who take their jobs really seriously and do it exceptionally well and extremely safely and we're extremely proud of the job they do, uh, and that includes those that we, that we use, uh, to provide our regional flights as well. So, we're extremely, uh, proud of and pleased with, uh, the, uh, qualifications and, safety, uh, qualifications of the employees we have.
Um, as to that contract, again, we put, we, we put forward a proposal which our
pilots rejected, which is completely their prerogative. Uh, other airlines, um, uh, have the same contract. Uh, and er, uh, er, uh, some, uh, similar terms, and the Envoy, and the Envoy pilots chose not to accept those terms. That's their choice. So, they're, they're living under their current contract and we're abiding by that contract, um, and as we bring on new flights, uh, they may go to different airlines who are, who are, um, who have different, who have different terms. So at any rate, moving on...
Ray
"With all due respect. Wait a minute. Okay. I want to be on record that you have not justified that contract offer with those paltry salaries. You have not justified that contract offer or those paltry sums to the pilots. I can't imagine what the flight attendants and the ground crew are making. How do you live on that? That's what's happening in our society today. Corporate executives like American Airlines and Coca-Cola and Chevron are so damned greedy. That's what's the problem, the problem up in the world today. I think you oughtta look at yourselves in the mirror. You need to think of what you're doing to American society and American workers. Look! And ask yourselves, 'Are you proud to do this?' Because I sure wouldn't be if I was in your position."
Doug Parker
"Alright, thank you sir. Second item of business, ratification of the employ... sure...
[at this point, he has agreed to field another question, from a different person, and she changes the subject.]