Originally Posted by
vegabondpilot
Bluedriver, you’re missing ExCargo’s point. According isn’t as black and white as you seem to think it is. There are tons of ways to massage the numbers to effect the outcomes that you want. Corporate finance is more art than math. Amazon famously netted zero profit during their tremendous growth phase (along with a meteoric share price rise). Shareholders called for Bezos’ head, right? Lulz.
There are levels to this and it would be very wise to include protections from accounting *******ery.
Major airline CBA's require the numbers used for profit sharing payout calculations be the same as those reported to shareholders. Many of these plans pay out large sums of money, in most years... Delta has had to pay particularly large payments to employees, and the CEO (past or present, can't remember which) has said they regret giving such a rich plan. Southwest has also paid large sums to employees, regularly. United just enriched their plan to match Delta's in their new agreement.
Tell me, if it was so easy to simply "accounting trick" these payments away, why haven't they been able to do it? Why are these other airlines writing these big checks if they can just manipulate the payments away?
Of course I know there are "gimmicks" that can be used, I've literally said as much in these posts. I've also given some reasons why they don't work long term in many/most cases.
But most importantly, what "protections" are you expecting or referring to? The one Cargo mentioned is laughable, if not delirious. It has been an epic battle, to date, simply to get JB management to talk about reinstating our previous profit sharing plan, or better yet improving it to an industry STANDARD plan. And profit sharing only pays during the good years... To think they would suddenly agree to a plan that not only pays during the good years, but also pays during the catastrophic years? From this management group that won't even talk about a conventional STANDARD plan enjoyed by all our peers? Are you feeling okay?
And... If JB could simply "accounting trick" the payments away on a standard profit sharing plan so easily, why haven't they just given it to us while laughing like Ray Liotta in Good Fellas??? "YEAH, SURE, HERE YOU GO JB PILOTS, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT"!!!!! (Here is where I wish I knew how to insert the Ray Liotta laughing GIF from Good Fellas).
I missed nothing at all from his points. They are either bad points, incomplete, or have no viable solution, at least not any solution he has put forth yet. And mostly, the problem he describes hasn't been much of a problem... As long as the plan and language are proper. But I do want the best plan and solution possible, so if you something valuable to add, I am listening.
And the reason my response was so aggressive to Cargo is because we have had this discussion, several times, on the JB board in the past.