I totally agree with that statement. This place has some unique jobs and have some of the most restrictive clauses in their CBA's. Their is not a single airline CEO that will come here and not challenge the status quo on any CBA. Ops agents, F/A's scheduled duty day, 30 minute boarding, scope in the pilots CBA, etc. In all those instances, those are outside the industry norm. The new CEO playbook will play the same old tired promises. Growth for "X". Those of us that have worked at other carriers know the playbook well.

 

to buy back 2.5 billion shares is why.
It's really what's been missing in the last decade. Not enough buy backs so they're going to buy back harder.
I believe over the last decade SW has spent more than 100% of profits on buybacks. Since there are no more profits to he had by selling tickets they will just sell the planes.
Makes perfect sense

 

Thank you. I thought I was temporarily insane until I read your post. They are selling aircraft and leasing back to get free cash flow, which is, even more than net profit, the best measure of a company's success. Free cash flow is great because you can do whatever has the greatest ROI with that cash. You can buy things, pay down debt, improve things, reward your employees, and then lastly reward your stakeholders.
Bob and company are freeing up cash to do a round of stock buybacks which is completely counterintuitive to the way a business should be run. It is the tail wagging the dog.
So yeah, sell and lease away if that's what you need to do in order to turn a profit, but don't do leasebacks to free up cash to buy back stock. It is a blatant bribe to the other institutional investors to keep their jobs and stave off the threat of Elliott so that they can continue to reward themselves for failing us. No thanks, I'll take what's behind door number 2.
My comments above about anti labor and pro greed were more about trust and honesty. Don't lie to me and tell me you love me. Don't continuously fail and then act like you are my savior. Bob, Gary, and company have had a good run getting rich off our hard work and turning this company from the most feared and revered airline in the domestic sphere to a laughingstock. I would rather deal with someone who is honest about who they are and what they represent but are here to make this company mean and lean.

 

Bring it on. SWAPA has been played so many times that they are wise to that garbage. I would rather deal with someone like that than with someone who fake hugs you while they are putting their hand in your pocket.

 

How can the employees working at HQ be that naïve , as to not see that GK is trying to burn down this place down. I am guessing they would make very good Jim Jones followers. Hard to believe some can be so stupid.



For the outsider. The HQ employees, Love GK and hate the front line employees.. All feed by the propaganda by GK and Co.

 

Examples are: during the start of the infamous xmas meltdown, HQ employees were told (via memo) that the problem was too many pilots calling out sick. It wasn't until we made the news and all over social media that they changed their story. Even to this day, many in HQ will tell you it started because too many pilots called in sick.

 

All you have to do is get on a random Yammer post and you're guaranteed to find a couple dozen HQ lackies who will parrot whatever drivel is being shoveled out by SWA media relations. It'll blow your mind. Or give you an aneurysm.

 

The pilot “Hatred” didn’t start with GK, it has been the legacy of Coleen. She hated pilots and anyone that sat atop a hierarchy of decision making. As a secretary of Herb, she hated anyone that actually showed up with skills, education, and training. She is the reason that ops agents think they have operational control, because she felt we were all equal……. That’s where GK learned his hatred….. think of that the next time you saddle up in ole Coleen for a trip, it’s a slap in our collective professional faces. I guess she wins, everyone bows to her legacy and is proud to fly the Coleen airplane……. I personally write that airplane up more than any other out of spite

 

Man! That's funny.

Brought back memories for me.

We had a SAAB--N340RC--November 340 Robert Crandall. Lets just say, It was reported to have been ABUSED.

I guess every airline has one.

 

Yeah, well there is old saying, Don't Pee down back and tell me it's raining either, and in my opinion thats what you're going to get, and have already gotten with many of Elliots statements. So far SWA has not ever furloughed a single employee not once and as bad as you might think things are here, there still not that bad. Now do we need to change some things, well every company needs to change to survive and SWA is no different, and we are seeing that change right now. Just because Elliot or SWAPA disagrees with it, well to bad. SWAPA needs to stick with CBA and pilot issues.

Just about every airline out there is cutting capacity and see headwinds for the future.

Delta CEO sounds alarm about a growing problem (yahoo.com)