Airline Pilot Central Forums - Andrew Levy thread missing????

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Baseball: excerpt from an LEC letter; you should have received hopefully by email:

Quote:

In the case of Andrew Levy, management has failed to disclose all of his work history. The following facts should not have been left off his resume:

· Andrew Levy was Mr. Frank Lorenzo’s right-hand man at Savoy Capital. Yes, that Frank Lorenzo, the one permanently banned from the airline industry.  

· Levy worked for ValuJet in 1996 when one of their planes crashed in the everglades killing 110 people. The underlying cause of the accident was blatant disregard for safety regulations due to cost cutting. Levy’s department was in the crosshairs of the investigation.  

· Levy possesses neither a CPA nor an MBA. Common sense would require them.  

· Allegiant is an ultra-low-cost operation, similar to ValuJet. The absence of an accident does not mean the presence of safety.  

· Levy has never worked for a large airline before. United Airlines is nearly 20 times the size of Allegiant with a different, far more complex business model.  

· After his departure from Allegiant in 2014, Allegiant came under federal scrutiny for suspicious financial dealings.  

As you can see, there are reasons to be concerned about the appointment of Andrew Levy. CEO Oscar Munoz assured us that, after a “top-down review” of the organization, there would be changes. We welcome change but strongly oppose the appointment of Levy; he is underqualified and is tainted by Lorenzo, ValuJet, and Allegiant.  

Our concern with the appointment of Julia Haywood is less about her resume and more to do with the recommendations Boston Consulting Group (BCG) gave United under her leadership. The BCG recommended we start wholesale shrinking the airline to cut costs. They advocated we close the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., hubs (and perhaps others) and take other draconian measures to close the cost gap between Delta and us. Everyone knows that in the airline industry, you cannot shrink your way to profitability. This is especially true during robust profitable years, as we currently experience. The failure of Haywood’s BCG to see the big picture is troubling. Their report was myopic, failing to identify the importance of closing the capacity gap with Delta, improving the operation, and the true value of hubs in LA and DC.  

In summary, we are disappointed in the selection of both Andrew Levy and Julia Haywood. We wish them the best, but their track records do not sit well with us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLazarus (Post 2187820)

I'd like to think somewhere along the way he's noticed that the best performing airlines over the long term are typically the ones with the best labor relations. But somehow I doubt that he has.

Neither of these new executives are going to be concerned with the "long term". They are interested in taking money for their real bosses at the hedge funds that have taken over. They forced their way into the board and now have forced these two into MGT. Buckle up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadetdrivr (Post 2188070)

FWIW, she was the head consultant at Boston Consulting Group for UAL and directed the recent consultant's report that recommended that UAL shrink to profitability

Seen a copy of that report anywhere? On the original AL thread, I read the BCG report co-authored by her that did get posted. I recall it was generic to all airlines and didn't say anything about UAL shrinking any hubs. She seems o.k. so far (well, compared to AL she seems o.k.). But I'd be very, very interested to read whatever specific recommendations BCG gave to UAL and see if they have actual numbers to back them up. Every few months some hotshot stock analyst copies and pastes the same tired idea of getting rid of IAD from a previous posting. Hmmm, I wonder if any of them have told AA to get rid of PHX (in favor of LAX) or JFK (in favor of PHL)? I suppose they will get around to it once AA is completely merged and they need fresh sounding ideas for how to improve performance.

One of the differences between Allegiant and United is that Allegiant receives large subsidies from the Casinos that they work with/for. That is a huge reason why they make money. Obviously, our business plan is completely different. I'm a little scared about this guy and what the Board might be plotting...

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLazarus (Post 2188146)

Correct, the one that was posted was a generic "paper" apparently written as a marketing device.

BCG has been a consultant for UAL for a while and the LEC 34 letter was referencing an internal recomendation that is non-public except for the "broad strokes" that the LEC shared.

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseball (Post 2188035)

Do you know if he has a resume that can be found?

His background and on-line profile's don't say much. That tells me that it is all about the relationship.

1. He either has crossed paths with or co-pollenated the same flowers that other current UAL managers have in the past, or were chums in a previous life: academia, fraternities, etc.

2. He may have history with board members. I wonder if he served on any boards where other UAL management were, or were possible board members as well. Often times people serve on multiple boards in different companies.

3. How did he get the job with Allegiant? What was the connection to land him that job?

His departure may not have been his idea. Let's presume it wasn't. He had to have known that the end result was a few months out. In that few months prior to his departure he had to have been massaging his contacts to see what is out there. He either got a friend of a friend to drop his name, or his relationship was solid enough to self initiate the move and send out the right feelers and signals that he would be available. His experience is lack luster. Therefore it has to be all about the relationship. What relationship(s) did he leverage to land the position.

If it was all about the relationship this concerns me because he will owe loyalty to and allegiance to the person or persons that swore him in and gave him the secret hand shake. That means they will tolerate poor performance and mistakes from him because they value that relationship as well. I think it's a red herring. I don't trust him until I know how he got the job and who are his minders.

After Maury Gallagher took over Allegiant from bankruptcy in the late '90's, Andrew Levy was one of several people that were brought in by Maury Gallagher to help turn things around. There were about half a dozen people that had all worked together at ValuJet prior to their accident and purchase of Air Tran.

I do not know if he has a resume available to see anywhere online or not. I know he had a previous history with Maury Gallagher at previous places, including ValuJet, and possibly WestAir prior to that.

I know he was Maury Gallagher's right hand man at Allegiant, and was the designated successor up until he was let go. I say let go because his departure was one of those "has decided to pursue other opportunities effective immediately" kind of emails that was sent out on a Friday afternoon by someone else in management.

I know he had a lot of interaction with various investment groups and other airlines. I don't know if he interacted with anyone from United. I also know he sat on other boards, but don't really remember which ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DashTrash (Post 2188151)

Actually they lost pretty much all those casino charters several years ago due to poor performance. Most of their money is made from all the things that are charged for besides the price of the ticket: seat assignment, a fee for purchasing a ticket, checked bag fees, carry on bag fees, sales of drinks and snacks on the plane (nothing's free, not even water), and printing the ticket at the airport.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UAL T38 Phlyer (Post 2187218)

Yes, I was the OP, and I thought the discussion was well within guidelines here.

Only Mods or Admins can delete threads.

I've asked, and no one has said who did it, or why. I'm not sure if it was intentional, or accidental.

If you can recall the exact title of the thread, google will most likely have it cached and you can pull it up.

It was "New United Leaders," but at this point, it has been effectively recreated.

Andrew Levy thread missing????

Butt posted - apologies!