Originally Posted by
APC225
He fixed CAL but "screwed up" the employees. He had the pilots working at FAR work rules and below industry pay—and liking it. He was a jedi master, "This isn’t the contract you’re looking for. Move along." And then was asked to please take $50M and leave. Smart guy.
I think you grossly 'misunderestimate' how abysmal CAL was prior to Bethune getting a chance to pull it out of the dumpster fire. Everything he did was an improvement over the prior regimes that were sill trying to follow Lorenzo's legacy. Yeah, the contracts were not industry standard, but that does not diminish the fact that they were better than before, employee morale and customer satisfaction kept improving while he was in charge.
You're using contemporary conditions to judge the actions of the past. CAL of the early 90's was as bad a place to work as any in aviation history.