Members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) were scheduled to vote on a new contract with American Airlines, or AA, this December that would have lowered the airline’s cost and outsourced hundreds of jobs that weren’t directly related to aircraft maintenance. They never got the chance because American instead filed for bankruptcy. On Wednesday AA announced it planned to outsource just about all of them — 4,600 mechanics jobs are going, along with 4,200 ground-service positions, 2,300 flight attendants and 400 pilots. About 15% of American’s work force is getting a one-way ticket to Termination, Texas — thank you for dying with us today. The rest of the article: http://business.time.com/2012/02/06/is-american-the-worst-managed-airline-in-america/#ixzz1lcyg4Xgo
A very poorly written article that replaces thought with invective and speaks out of both sides of its mouth. "it’s even possible that the work on the engines of American Airlines won’t be done in America"--yes and how much later are they doing this than most other airlines (leaving aside the question of politics and the point that many of the repair houses are in 'America' but not the US. So is the switching now a sign of poor management earlier or poor management now--can't really be both...
The excellent maintenance that was performed here in America has kept the Super 80's going as long, safely, and reliably as they have!
American has been battling with their unions for years. To paint a picture that they were finally going to vote favorably on a proposal is a bit disingenuous. Heck, one of the unions even refused to bring an AA offer back to it's membership for a vote. I'm bummed to see the maintenance employees go, as I thought this was a competitive advantage for AA. Looks like I was wrong.
Unfortunately, the problem is that for 99% (estimated) of the public, air travel is a commodity purchase, so they don't support politics/corporate decisions/etc with their purchase. See MRTC for a further instance of this.
I think all major legacies are "similarly" managed, more or less. However, they don't move in lockstep and right now it is AA that happens to be undergoing a rough patch.
Seems like someone wasn't allowed to bring his giraffe on the plane and is a bit cranky... Usually, op-eds and commentary are clearly marked as such and peppering it with a few facts does not change the nature of the piece. Look - I can be a Time reporter, too! Op-ed Is Time the Worst Managed "News" Magazine? by cwpfly Time is an old frumpy magazine that used to be good - not to mention thicker than a 4 folded sheets of phyllo dough. If it was a plane, it would certainly appear that its engines have been maintained offshore since its paid circulation is in a nosedive. It really shouldn't be throwing stones at airlines since people burning points to pay for its glossy-bound garbage represents 7.7% of its circulation. Thank goodness that one of its competitors USN&WR stopped publishing or its numbers would be over 200,000 worse. Blah, blah, blah. See - it is easy - I just properly labeled mine as an opinion.
