Delta MEC Chairman Letter
March 24, 2006
Dear Fellow Pilot, Yesterday, March 23, the hearings before the three-man neutral panel concluded in Washington, D.C. Throughout the course of the hearings, I have been dismayed but not surprised as I continue to observe that Delta's senior executives choose to diverge from the central philosophy that made our once great airline a success. They have forgotten that in a customer service industry like ours, people matter. It was our culture. Delta founder C.E. Woolman understood that people matter. He used that philosophy to turn a small southern crop dusting operation into one of the most successful airlines in the world. Mr. Woolman iterated this core belief when he said, "All airlines are the same. Only the people make them different," a statement that is just as true now as it was when he said it. "This business," Mr. Woolman said, "is nuts and bolts, but it's primarily people." Herb Kelleher, founder and long-time CEO of Southwest Airlines, understands this philosophy too. He took the idea of a small intra-state discount airline and arguably turned it into the most successful low-fare carrier in the world. His business model was innovative, but others tried to copy it and failed. Why? Because people matter. Mr. Kelleher implemented his plan with the understanding that he needed to staff his airline with good people and then treat them right. Despite the fact that they have the most heavily unionized workforce in the U.S. airline industry, with employees who are paid at or near the top of industry scales, Southwest consistently makes a profit and ranks at the top of customer satisfaction surveys. Both of these men knew that leaders take care of their people, and, in turn, their people take care of the customers. Conversely, the most dedicated people -Delta people-can be stifled by poor leadership. In 1993, Delta and others were experiencing many threats similar to what we face today, though to a smaller degree. Still, Delta was ranked as Number Two in Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America." The esprit de corps of the Delta family was the envy of the industry. Today, however, under the "leadership" of the current senior executives, we don't even make the list of the Top 100. Delta senior executives continue to distance themselves from the historical leadership style that made Delta a success, choosing instead to more closely align themselves with a "Lorenzoesque" management style, including the hiring of former Frank Lorenzo associates. Make no mistake-you don't hire Frank Lorenzo's team to implement a pro-employee, team-building strategy. Lorenzo justly earned a reputation as the most anti-union boss of the late 20th century. In the long run, his tactics were viewed as fatally flawed and his name became synonymous with union busting. Now, his legacy is alive here. Still, Delta's current senior executives like to pretend that they understand how important the Delta employees are. At the 2004 Annual Shareholders meeting, our current CEO stated, "Based on 16 years with Delta's Board of Directors, and even before, I know that what makes this company special is its people." But actions speak louder than words. At Delta, ticket agents have been replaced by kiosks. Mechanics have been outsourced with questionable financial returns for the effort. Flight Attendants are staffed so thinly that they are unable to provide their former level of service. Reservation agents' jobs have been moved overseas. Management seeks to eliminate furlough protections for pilots while they use the legal system to fund their own "management furlough fund." And of course, Delta senior management has decided that they want to reject the pilot contract in total. It appears that was always their intent. You will recall that Delta management referred to their term sheet as their 1113 filing even before they filed for Chapter 11. Once in Chapter 11, they wasted little time before filing their 1113 motion. Throughout the Chapter 11 process, and the 1113 process in particular, and despite the rhetoric to the contrary, Delta management's philosophy has been that people don't matter. To them, costs-and only costs-matter. To them, employees are not assets; they are liabilities. A true leader does not speak of valued employees and then reject those employees. But that's exactly what the 1113 process is about-rejection. It's about the rejection of a collective bargaining agreement. But it's also about the rejection of a bargaining process that has worked successfully for over six decades, and, above all, it is about a rejection of the Delta pilots, the frontline employees who hold so much of the future success of Delta Air Lines in their hands. The decision to take the 1113 path was a management choice, and as I wrote to you last fall, it was also a management failure. By choosing the path of failure, they abdicated their duty to meaningfully negotiate in order to take what management perceived to be the easy way out. But, as most of us learned when we were still children, rarely is the easy way out the best way out. If management had been able to make the intellectual argument for a business case that supported their demands, they could have done so outside the 1113 process, and as we always have, we would have listened and responded appropriately. But they could not. Instead, they have attempted to use the 1113 process to extract brute force concessions. Let me provide you with an example. As part of Letter 46, and to ensure that the Delta pilots would not be unfairly targeted in the event of a Chapter 11 filing after making concessions of $5 billion dollars, Delta management and ALPA signed the Bankruptcy Protection Letter (BPL). This letter was also a very important part of Letter 50. Now, Delta senior executives try to make the argument that the Bankruptcy Protection Letter is somehow not about bankruptcy, and that it doesn't provide protection. It's a bizarre line of reasoning based on legal maneuvering in an attempt to avoid living up to the terms of an agreement like honorable men should. People matter, but until and unless Delta's senior executives embrace that concept, Delta cannot succeed. One must wonder what Mr. Woolman would think of the airline he created if he were alive today. Fraternally, Lee Moak, Chairman Delta MEC |
Pointless Letter -- or Pointed?
So what's the point of Moak's letter?
|
Ummm, good question.
|
So what's the point of Moak's letter? ALPA has gotten pretty good about telling us all what we already know! :( |
ALPA has gotten pretty good about telling us all what we already know! :([/QUOTE]
Good Point. ALPA is spinning their wheels, but going nowhere. And Duane looks more and more like the Captain of the Titanic. I hope Delta stands up for this bull&%#*. NWA has caved! :( |
Originally Posted by OOTSK
NWA has caved! :(
|
Originally Posted by 757Driver
Not yet they haven't !!
I guess now all we can do is hope! Has the mec voted yet? |
Originally Posted by OOTSK
I guess now all we can do is hope! Has the mec voted yet?
They sent it to the Pilots with a "Neutral" rating from board. |
Originally Posted by 757Driver
Yes,
They sent it to the Pilots with a "Neutral" rating from board. Can you say 49-51%????:( |
The Point
So what's the point of Moak's letter? ...... ALPA has gotten pretty good about telling us all what we already know! :( Although the letter was addressed "Dear Fellow Pilot", its target audience was wider than that. Since management won't negotiate seriously, DALPA's only option is to reason with the judge and the "arbitration" panel. If they decide to reject our contract, another option becomes available. |
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:05 PM. |
User Alert System provided by
Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Website Copyright ©2000 - 2017 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands