Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Flight Operations (and Endeavor's EtD is a Flight Operations issue) is given orders to execute. They execute those orders.
Mr. Anderson has told some who have spoken with him that Senior Executives can become insulated from operational issues.
Mr. Anderson himself has been involved in the Endeavor operation.
It is my opinion experiments are being executed and once results are in the orders may be adjusted, changed, or tactically abandoned. If you look back at Mr. Anderson's history, he has been on the front lines of some tremendous innovations in our profession. Some, like Eastern Air Lines, were failures. He at least was in on the planning for breaking the Northwest Mechanic's union. He's shrunk Delta to profitability by making some very astute decisions. He is both a smart tactician and strategist (two different skills, one requires vision and the other execution).
Endeavor is a petri dish in the laboratory of pilot labor.
Is that a bad thing?
I prefer management to be nimble and have the ability to change plans to suit the situation. It is stupidity to build a plan with no ability to change it to meet current market and operational conditions. To wit: jetblue and their focus on cutting fat to the bone. What happens when you do that... at all costs... when things go wrong? You have Valentine's Day massacres. What is gonna happen at SWA if their scope clause is not modified? Rigidity is not the answer.... at all.
And I do not at all agree with your premise of shrinking to profitability. That is just plain wrong.