David Siegal is nothing more than a opportunistic SCUM who shows up at the door to extract money for himself and step on anyone elses life and career that he can if it suits his agenda.

He has no interest in running a good company.

He will lie to your face while sticking a knife in your back.

He will accomplish his goals, take his parachute money and LEAVE for the next opportunity.

The arrival of David Siegal places a SERIOUS DARK CLOUD over the future of XO Jet employees.

Let me guess, you are a bitter "Eastie" USAirways pilot?

You may be accurate, but time will tell whether this was a good decision. He doesn't have a great reputation on the labor front and he can be perceived as one of those "greedy executives," but he does offer some management sophistication that XOJet might need as it continues to grow. He has a solid business background and some high-profile backers who could come in handy - you never know. You could argue that 95% of airline executives are incompetent and greedy - look at Tilton at UAL.

Let's hope the founder stays involved as Executive Chairman and ensures his employees are looked after properly. Again, time will tell.

Quit beating around the bush and tell us what you really think.

It is amazing that the same executives keep finding jobs in the industry after losing money at a previous airline. Perhaps this industry needs an injection of fresh blood. Then again, what do I know. I wouldn't be looking at these posts tonight except my cable carrier and our local CBS affiliate are not coming to terms. I am missing Two & Half Men tonight. Oh well, One Six Right is on Discovery.

I think no sane executive worth his salt would want to work in the airline industry. Tilton could have been enjoying his $millions on the golf course while working for cash-heavy Chevron Oil (his previous employer). Boy did he make a huge mistake. The bad airline CEOs tend to return because nobody new and sane wants to enter this cr@p industry. Siegel is like Stephan Wolf - they are VAMPIRES!!!! They keep rising from the dead... That said, Siegel does add some sophistication and we'll see if he works out... Fingers crossed!

Right.. he had an epiphany and is now going to be the good guy and play nice with the employees. For sure....

What difference does it make if the guy is an eastie or westie or even a USAir pilot. Siegel is cut from the same cloth as Lorenzo. May be accurate? you just need to do a little reading about the guy before you shoot the messenger.

Yep, we are all more than a little concerned. However, we have been assured that our Executive Chairman will continue to set the tone for our company culture.

David Siegel is many things, but he is not dumb. This is not an airline. Our business is just as much about customer service as it is transporting passengers, and our pilots are pretty much the entire face of the company to our customers. I'm sure he realizes his past approach to dealing with pilots will not fly here. It would not be in his or the companies best interest to rouen our exceptional relationship with management. To do so would destroy the essence of what makes XOJET successful.

Our new CEO will have my support unless he proves unworthy of it. I believe he can do great things here as long as he doesn't try to fix what is not broken.

Correct as far as collecting bonuses. Otherwise undetermined. I can't say much about CO Express, but it appears his function at U was to take the company into bankruptcy, yank the pilots' pension, then take the company out of bankruptcy. Once his function was completed, he was paid off and sent away. He actually was sort of a proxy for Continental when it looked like CO was going to buy U. Then "Retirement Systems of Alabama" stepped in front. It appears they left Siegel in place for lack of anyone better. He was more of a triggerman than a CEO.

Whether that's true or not really doesn't matter. The important thing is that he DOESN'T CARE. He's probably there to do what the "Executive Chairman" wants. If he's actually making most of the decisions, look out! At U I saw very little business acumen and ZERO leadership ability (which means he fit right in at that company). I sincerely hope all turns out well with you folks, but right now this does not look good. Period.

and he is counting on that. history provides lessons if one will just study them. the lesson is with Siegel to never grant him anything he doesn't earn.

Various pilot groups have granted new CEOs a 'honeymoon' period only to wonder later what they were thinking. He is not your friend, he is not there to make your life better, he is not there to improve things for YOU. he is there for the company and if that means longer days for you, less compensation, higher premiums for your benefits, he will do that. it is really that simple.