Originally Posted by
sailingfun
How do you explain the company waiting far longer than most felt it should prior to filing bankruptcy? In fact they waited so long Delta was dangerously short of cash. It is also hard to explain Mullins taking the bulk of his compensation in stock options that would become worthless in any bankruptcy filing. Not to mention taking a company into chapter 11 is rarely a good thing on a resume. Mullins has never held any job of consequence since. If it was all a plan you would also think the company would not have fired him and instead let him lead the company through the process.
The landscape changed with 911. Mullins left in 2003. He had the Comair strike earlier and didn’t want another one at DAL so he signed C2K. Nothing to lose. Industry does well,which was not likely, and profits cover the contract. Industry heads into reorganization, which was likely, and he’s got an out from the contract. The writing was on the wall regarding stock price.
His war of attrition on US Airways was a miserable failure. He completely discounted the reality that the airlines are heavily regulated and politics are a wild card that can keep airlines on life support. US Airways was not going to go away. The massive irony is Mullins was one of the top cheer leaders for the ATSS Act after 911. Delta never applied for the bailout loans. You could argue perhaps because he knew he was going to bail and the loans had ties on exec compensation and golden parachutes. America West is ultimately saved by the loans advocated for by Mullins and Parker merges them with a BK US Air. The circle of life.