NERD

I think I just figured it out. Tomahawk is really Tom Horton. It explains it all. The reason that there has been no movement in negotiations is that he is too busy on APC. Tom, if you would just get back to the bargaining table and offer some realistic proposals your labor groups would probably sign yesterday.

MayDaze

I'm just going to chime in as a US Airways pilot. As much as I hate to say this, if Parker didn't come to Phoenix, America West would have probably became another Southwest victim long ago. Everyone thought Airways was going down in 2005. I was looking at some old posts on APC and no one thought we would be as strong as we are today.

buddies8

I would not, but that is me.
If AMR kicks you 20 times a day in the ass,
and US Airways agrees to only kick you in the ass 10 times every day, who you going to go with. AMR will disappear. Horton cannot change the path AMR has elected to go down without HORTON losing face. AMR is in burn the house down mode. But tomorrow we will see what they say in court, or will they come up with some lame excuse to delay. That is what amr is great at. delay tactics.

cactusmike

Parker came to America West back in 98 or 99 as the Chief Financial Officer. Bill Franke, who was the CEO that led the restructuring out of CH 11 in 92 hired him to be his successor. Parker took over the week before 9/11 and was able to convince the government to grant an ATSB loan that kept us flying after that tragedy. We repaid the ATSB loan early and doubled the return on investment.

People forget, AWA was profitable for almost all it's existence. CH 11 was filed because of one huge, colossal mistake - the. 747 program. Flying 747s at 4 cents a seat mile cost when your yield is 3 cents a mile does not work. Desert Storm and the shrinking Japanese tourist marker killed the HNL- Nagoya flights. We sold that route to NWA and they were able to make it work later on.

AWA worked because we could compete with SWA due to similar costs, even though their business model was different. The reason we were able to do that was, quite simply, it was done on the backs of labor. We were very productive and our pay rates were below industry average. Remember, we had only negotiated 2 contracts and the first was right out of CH11 and the second was post 9/11 with ATSB restrictions on labor costs imposed on us. We should have had a 3rd or 4th contract by now but for the merger and the subsequent shenanigans from USAPA.

All this is background to demonstrate that Parker knows how to survive. You may get angry at him but the man is a businessman. He will do what it takes to get the deal done. That is why he is getting done in one month what he has not done here in six years. There was no payoff for him to intervene in the pilot dispute. He saves 160 million a year in pilot costs by having the East under LOA 93. And, really, this whole pilot dispute is not Parker's fault but USAPA's . They are the ones that rejected the results of the binding arbitration and prolonged this seniority dispute. And then USAPA rejects all of the TA'd sections of the joint contract ALPA had settled and starts the negotiation process all over, unnecessarily.

With this deal he sees a win win scenario. He can come in and sweeten the APA (and, indeed, all the AA contracts) because he knows that he will be able to achieve the revenue to make this work. And by getting the labor costs settled before the merger he has fixed, known costs in place to bring before the other creditors.

Bottom line, Parker is your friend because it suits him to be. That is not neccessarily a bad thing if what he wants is the same as what you want. And in this case you both want the same thing, a successful and growing American Airlines. And when was the last time you hear that?

cactusmike

Parker saw enough value in UsAirways to rescue them from liquidation. Subsequent years have proven him correct.

You cannot compare pre 2006 US Airways to post 2006 LCC. It is a new airline with the same name, that is it. Parker and company restructured the routes and by and large they made the right decisions. The ancillary revenue model was adapted and implemented successfully. The operation runs far better than the old, bad AAA. Even the "safety campaign" slowdown did not prevent a profitable year, although profit sharing declined year to year. Management took firm steps to cut USAPA off and restore the operation.

No one here sees Parker as another Bethune or Herb. Those were men of great understanding of human issues. Doug is not that guy. He knows numbers and sometimes, that is all you need.

eaglefly

I'll still affirm I'm a "die-hard AA'er" myself and want the best for the employees and that means the most prosperous and competitive future. If I had my druthers, AA would stay stand-alone and expand internally. Sadly, AMR's plan offers more contraction then expansion and excessive financial pain for the employees. I've repeatedly asked our other supposed die-hard AA'er to convince me of AMR's business plan in detail, but he's repeatedly evaded that in favor of standard union-busting rhetoric.

Again, it appears that AA and U will merge, the only question is pre or post BK and who controls and prospers from the transaction. Intersting to note all of AMR's recent political cheerleaders aren't saying U shouldn't merge with AA, just not till after C11 exit. Again, we must see the obvious in that this conflict is simply about possibly depriving certain executives and others from a large payday and the sacrifice of employee interests for that payday.

I guess the definition of "die-hard AA'er" depends on who one considers to be AA. One here apparently considers AA to be a small cadre of senior executives and another the hard-working people who make this airline live and breath on a daily basis.

I think everyone here knows who is who in that respect.

Tomahawk58

I have consistently stated that to merge with US would be a colossal mistake! Of course, you have the West folks here fawning over Doug all the while condemning their brothers and sisters in the East. Interject AA into the mix and I see nothing but acrimony for the coming decade or more with arguments over career expectations, who brought what to the party, etc. All the while the "lover" is content to let the folks battle things out amongst themselves and walks away with the spoils.

My absolute preference is for AA to remain a stand alone carrier and grow organically. Barring that outcome, the very best would be a link up with B6 and possibly AK.

The West folks are attempting to deify Doug, but I'm just not buying it. I wonder where that week went when He holed up in the hotel with you all and offered the US team DAL + 3. OH yeah, its coming any day now. It's hard playing second fiddle to the new girl (APA). Such is the nature of affairs.

As for the court and the creditors committee, let see what POR is put forth by AA and if any POR is forthcoming from Doug and the US team that tops it. Anyone can over-promise at this stage, but I'm still looking for the beef!

This is a crucial juncture, factual analysis sans unbridled emotion and pie-in-ski promises is what's needed to move forward.

We'll see where things stand by Friday.

I hope everyone enjoys a good week!

NERD

How low are you willing to go? Horton and Brundage's proposal is far below every other airlines ch11 in every section. At what point would you say no? My gut is nothing short of the worst contract in the history of aviation. But hey, at least you could still tell your neighbors you're a AA pilot. Not surprised being that you only wanted to work for AA at a time that there was hiring at most every major and you CHOSE only AA with the horrendous B scale.

Tomahawk58

Taking a page from the attack book are we! Don't like the message, attempt to villify the poster.

Actually, my 23+ year career at AA has been anything but horrendous !

formerdal

I don't think you have been paying attention to how this industry has become profitable over the last 5 years. Consolidation and capacity restraint. AMR's plan is bogus, growth of 20% is a pipe dream. This has all been orchestrated in order to make the merger palatable to all the different entities involved. I think the chance of this happening while in ch 11 is about 100%...