I did enjoy that portion of his persona but it doesn't outweigh all the rest.

Was thinking the same thing!!!

Few years ago I'm 3 months in and just got to SFO. No idea who Sir Lawrence is. I am in line @ Pete's coffee and I see this guy staring me down. He's in front of me. No idea who he is. I see some ID hanging but meh who knows. I start some small talk I'm brand new to UA bla bla. He never once introduced himself until I asked "Do you work for UA" I'm the Chief pilot he says LOL.

He never said welcome. Never said glad to have you. Hey what's your background. Do you need any help. Nothing zip nada! He did not offer to buy this new guy coffee either. That's all I needed to know about Larry the cable guy.

Still not tracking what happened here...

I do. He would have fit in well with The Friends of Fred that used to run this place. That ain’t a complement...

Other than firing some new hires that apparently deserved it, can I get some examples of his failed leadership?
Only because I'm curious. I haven't heard a single captain say they care for him, yet no one really says specifically what he's done. Or hasn't done.

I don't know the man.

Sometimes leaders "get it" and sometimes they don't. You may not get the smoking gun you seek, but if Captains don't trust him and new hires are afraid of him then he's not a good ambassador for the company.

The CP's are the "link" between front line pilots and management. if he doesn't represent the culture that management wants to convey then he's ineffective. if he's ineffective then he (more than likely) is creating work for management instead of relieving that burden.

Management culture/leadership culture is made up largely of intangibles. However, trust is the most important factor for me. If I don't trust a person, then I won't go to him or her on issues I might need advice on, or issues that are sensitive, or issues where I made a mistake. Not worth the risk.

You can't improve as professional pilot if you can't go to your boss with an issue. No one should go to their boss with an issue if you can't trust him.

That's my take...

I agree strongly. I'd bet my career on Fabien, Ernie or Alberto doing the right thing, every single time. Bebe is rock-solid too.

I don't get that vibe from Captain Ellis.

Just to add color to the conversation, I'll share a quick anecdote of a NY CP who seems to me similar to Larry.

I was on a trip JFK - LAX - JFK. I got a call my Mom had been in an accident. I called JFK and no answer so I called the FODM and he said just call the crew desk and use sick time and it will work out. So I called the crew desk, said I'm sick and went to my Mom's hospital bedside. Then I got a call from the CP and all he said was: "You called in sick on a trip and that has raised a ton of red flags. You better have a damn good reason." He left that as a voicemail. I called him immediately and explained and he never apologized or gave me back the sick time.

And, that's not my only Spielman story.

Some Chief Pilots are not nice, and all I need to know about Larry is he fired Lin, the best employee United ever had.

Additional thread drift. Latest Larry failure. Parking in SFO for pilots for at least a decade has been problematic with the airport.

Instead of working to solve the problem Larry does this, from ALPA:

Ladies and Gentlemen of C34,

Recently we received the following from the Flight Office:

"We have received a few complaints that there are a few campers in Lot C taking up more than one spot, we are not sure if they belong to pilots. The Airport Authority is aware and they will tow and impound any camper/recreational vehicle in that Lot."

We reached out to the Flight Office for clarification and were told that the complaints came from fellow pilots, prompting the Flight Office to contact the Airport Authority instead of reaching out to the vehicle owners or putting out a CCS message.

We have informed the Flight Office that the proposal to begin ticketing and towing larger vehicles is disappointing and problematic for several reasons.

First, the vehicle mix in the parking lot has been consistent for years. Second, a quick loop around the lot makes it evident that, ever since the spaces were shrunk a couple of years ago, full-size pickup trucks no longer fit in the majority of spots. Third, having vehicles towed and impounded without warning is unreasonable.

We are gathering information and investigating options to preserve parking privileges for larger vehicles. Please advise us immediately if you're contacted by the Flight Office regarding your parked vehicle or if your vehicle is towed and impounded. Also please feel free to contact us to provide details of the history of your use of SFO parking with a larger vehicle.

In Unity,

Instead of fixing the problem, Larry thinks we should just drive smaller cars?