Mudge

You have my vote

Grumble

Don’t mind the SCABS reminiscing, and you’re still a troll.

Andy

Well, Gordo was just a puppet for Brenneman and Bonderman. I'll take a Brenneman and Bonderman over 100 Gordos. Gordo not only hired/kept Fred Abbott and Debbie McCoy, but he also hired and promoted smallsack.
Gordo hired those a$$clowns and that's also his legacy.


Gordo's just a motivational speaker who was able to squeeze every ounce of blood out of Continental's labor groups. Brenneman and Bonderman could have installed Tony Robbins (motivational speaker) as CEO and the outcome would have been better because Tony Robbins is smarter than Gordo and wouldn't have spent most of his time impregnating flight attendants.

Brenneman and Bonderman were the brains behind Continental's turnaround.

terminal

You’ve obviously not been paying attention to the operational and financial performance of the airline.
#1 on time for 2017
Strong financials-maybe not as strong as SWA and DAL, but it’s trending up.-Investors didn’t like the growth plan-but it’s working. Stock has pretty much recovered in one day today from what it lost when the growth plan was announced two quarters ago.

BMEP100

open collar, skirt, spiked heels....you'd probably get an invitation to the earnings live show.

Aquaticus

I see a lot of naivety in the question itself. You are believing the news media and social media for a reading on the quality of a product. Neither is a good or true source of data. Media is currently being made to sell ads and the catchier or more absurd the better. It has become pure entertainment with little basis in reality. Our product has actually gotten a lot better with a much smoother operation, less cancellations, and more diversified offering at the lower and upper end of the spectrum.

We transport 3+ million people every week to more than 60 countries and are part of an alliance that serves 98% of all countries. Our product isn't fine dining and white glove service but it isn't the worst by far. It is reliably middle of the road and indistinguishable from other legacies offerings. If you are going to believe the midwestern soccer mom on twitter who "had the worst experience ever" because she booked a 30 min connection in IAD out of a different terminal to the last flight of the night to Frankfurt... context matters. Or the person who booked economy between ORD-SEA and was offended we didn't give him the open economy plus seat for free? The airline will always be the bad guy and the media will always report on every "travesty" because it catches your attention.

Our product has issues but it is a complex operation on a scale that isn't easy to comprehend especially if you already have media bias to hate that company. Ask anyone to tell you the Dr. Dao story in its entirety... they can't. How many times was he on/off/on/off the airplane before the film started? If you can't answer that question then maybe you don't actually know what happened. Load factors continue to creep up and the average consumer just wants a "cheap flight" even if they pay ancillary costs that add up to more. Is our product getting worse or is the industry standard giving the consumer what they want?

missingbite

BINGO! Couldn't agree more.

Sunvox

+1000 - Until industry consolidation happened airlines lost more money than they made over their entire history. Since consolidation the industry has been profitable in a way never before believed possible for airlines so much so that Warren Buffet decided to invest in the industry as a whole. UAL just posted a Year over Year increase in profitability and raised their full year earnings guidance in the face of a 40% increase in fuel cost and did so while sticking to a 5% growth strategy AND reaching their highest customer satisfaction rate since the merger.

Also, everyone posting or following this thread should realize that the OP is NOT a legacy pilot, but merely an aviation enthusiast.

XHooker

Nailed it!

baseball

Gordon pulled a rabbit out of a hat. But here's the deal. Gordon had the unique ability to relate to the common man, the uneducated man, and a Harvard MBA while charming the panties off of any female in the room. He could sell an ice-box to an Eskimo, and he was smart enough to have centralized control and decentralized execution. He, with the exception of DL McCoy, put good people in charge of stuff and let them run their departments.

But, there was a dark side. In Flight Operations, McCoy gave way to Abbot. The punitive and harsh, and often personal vendetta style of discipline was without merit, and it ultimately was the reason, in my opinion that the ops group gave way to the IACP, and the IACP gave way to ALPA.

You get as much "union as you deserve." CAL deserved all the union it got.

Gordon had a very simple plan, with 4 equally important cornerstones. He got Boeing and GE on board, and having big players and institutional investors on board helps you negotiate good prices on engines and airframes.

But, there will never be another Gordon. Why? Because I am about 1.3 million light in earnings. Gordon only made money when he held a labor cost advantage. So, goodie for Gordon. He ran a good airline, and he financed it on my earnings, and my retirement. When Gordon retired I didn't get my retro-bonus check to make up for me working for sub-standard and below average wages.

There is always a place for a charismatic leader who can rally the employee groups and keep upper and middle level management all pulling together.

Oscar seems like he is doing a good job. He seems competent, honest and forthright. He also seems like he is going out and getting good people.That's really all I need from a leader.

I have left Oscar voice mails and emails over a few different issues. He has had senior vice presidents get back with me to follow up. In one case I had a suggestion as to how we could make more money on cargo. The same day, the VP of Cargo (Jars) called me back and we began a diologue as to specific routes, and airframes and time-lines for cargo close-outs. The VP of Cargo was so interested in my ideas we talked back and forth for a few weeks. I see an engaged CEO who has told his subordinates to seek new ideas and explore all options.

I think the Jury is out on Kirby. He won't be able to pull out any scope relief out of his hat. Gordon, and his successor Kellner tried furiously and feverishly to exploit and abrogate the CAL scope clause. So, I don't give Gordon that much love.....