I wrote earlier this year that I didn’t think American Airlines CEO, Doug Parker, would survive the summer. Now into October, it looks like that prediction may be true, depending on one’s definition of summer.
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Change Appears Imminent
Lucky from One Mile At a Time, among others, reported CEO Doug Parker’s ouster may be imminent on Boarding Area this week. He’s not alone. Some reasons why now look to be a better time than ever come from three key areas: Labor, Stock Performance, Partners.
I have extensively covered the outcry from American Airlines flight attendants and mechanics which, still, do not have a new contract. Even Bernie Sanders jumped in the fray regarding the mechanics deal, sure to garner support from at least half the country interested in labor matters this upcoming election cycle.
The stock has not improved, not at all. I recently bought some shares because how much worse can it get, right? (I may not want to find out.) Recent market adjustments have closed the gap with American’s peers, but that’s not a result of poor performance on their part, nor improved performance on American’s.
Partners have left the building. LATAM, which was in play for a joint venture with American until the Chilean government put a stop to it, appeared to be very cozy with American Airlines. However, with the failure of the JV, LATAM was clearly still in the market for an investment of some sort – one that American has made in foreign carriers in the past. Delta filled that role and severely diminished American’s South American strategy as the airline will now not only be a part of Delta’s portfolio but also leave the oneworld alliance. Adding insult to injury, Alaska Airlines is also distancing themselves from American with redemption opportunities going away while some codeshares will remain.
Replacements Are Already Turning Down the Job
Matthew wrote that Scott Kirby, United’s President and COO, has already stated he won’t be moving back to Dallas to take the job. It’s interesting that Parker’s imminent departure appears to be such a foregone conclusion that others are already turning down the job.
Does Kirby have an axe to grind with Parker and company? Yes, I believe so. Lucky reported the following turn of events prior to Kirby moving to United:
“Kirby also talked a bit about how his actual departure from American happened, which he describes as the biggest surprise of his career:
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In late spring 2016 American CEO Doug Parker said he was planning to retire and that he wanted Kirby to take his place
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Three months later, Parker walked into his office and read off a piece of paper that Kirby needed to transition out of American”
I can imagine that Kirby might have welcomed an opportunity to prod Parker some amid his current set of challenges.
What’s Next
Lucky notes that American will have to find an American citizen to run the carrier, which is entirely draconian in my opinion but absolutely correct. He points to Robert Isom as a possible replacement but I believe that investors and employees will want wholesale change. It’s already been clear that labor is unafraid of challenging Isom, though I give credit to the man for facing management himself, unlike Parker.
Just as United CEO Oscar Muñoz came from an adjacent industry with no direct ties to Jeff Smisek or the business, I think this would be the best way to go for American Airlines as well. While finding someone who has had success in the business before, like Richard Anderson formerly of Delta Airlines, I don’t think anyone short of Gordon Bethune could get the carrier back on track at this point – pardon the pun.
Conclusion
While a talented person could argue that any month with sunny skies and temperatures in the northern half of the US reaching upper 80s sounds like summer to them – I will have to admit that my prediction that Parker would be out before fall has been proved wrong. That said, it doesn’t appear like I was off by much. The street, the competition, labor – even partners – are unhappy with American. When the competition is ready for someone new at the helm just to make it more exciting, Parker has sunk as low as he can go.
What do you think? Is Doug Parker’s reign coming to an end? Who should replace him (and the team)? What changes would you hope would come to fruition as a result?
I think he’s done. I just cannot imagine how anyone could think keeping him is the right move.
I’ve known Doug since our days in B-school. He’s smart, engaging and knows the airline biz as well as anyone. American has been hurt greatly by the 737 Max grounding which was out of Parker’s control. He’ll pull American through its current mess and then watch the stock price soar.
No doubt that he’s a nice guy, but the performance issues stem way further back. Questionable agreements with flight attendant union reps prior to the closing of the merger, a mechanics contract that’s been years behind his own commitments (not to mention rival carriers), his own stock predictions he failed to meet – this is not something that can be blamed on the 737 max.
One thing that is often left out is the reservations department a big part of the airline and they are fazing out the HBR program and leaving thousands with either move across the country or have no job. It’s been a successful program for other airlines why not AA ? DP has never been a fan of the program that was in place pre him.
No actually he’s been the worst leader , lacks knowledge in many areas including keeping his employee promises .
He needs to leave before American loses its entire foundation .
Talk to any employee group on betrayal and broken promises let alone look at the stock derailing , it’s broken fleet , unacceptable tech issues , airline codeshares pulling out , advantage program failing , scheduling systems failing , and on and on
Epic Fail . .
Epic fail
Instead of forging an identity, him and his cronies are hell bent on making it America West. We even have parts that have America West labeling. The paint and uniforms is all that remains of American Airlines. The morale is horrible, mistrust is worse than when old AA team was in place that pilots and flight attendants demanded be gone. The employees know how to get it back on track but management insists on meddling instead of listening. They refuse to invest in their employee while the competition does the opposite. Sad because at the end of the day, managements ineptness will cause thousands of jobs lost while they sail off with their golden parachutes.
The worst in customer service. The mechanic’s union is a disgrace… Cancelled flights and grounded planes, all done as a negotiating tactic by the union for leverage. This has all happened on his his watch… Good riddance!!
The guy is a joke but so is most of AA management from level 3s and up. Especially JFK control center. But what do you expect whith Parker at the helm. Steering straight for the iceberg. The America West mentality didn’t work when they took over US airways and it wont work at AA either. Kerry Philipovitch is the only inhouse leader that can make something great again in my opinion.
Well Mr. Parker may be a nice guy, good friend, bright etc but I will do all possible to avoid his airline (American Airlines) in the future. I recently took a business trip to Arizona from JFK on AAL. Both legs of the journey were over 4 1/2 hours. I paid $157 round trip for “extra” leg room in the main cabin and was charged $30 to check a bag.
The aircraft on the outbound leg was an AAL 737-800 and the return craft was an Airbus 321. The aisles and seats were as tight as I’ve ever experienced on the 737 and the Airbus had no tv screens (anywhere) outside of the cockpit and there was nowhere to charge my smartphone. The flight attendants were professional. friendly and were constantly in the aisles attending to the full load of pax on both legs. I asked one of the attendants on the return leg why there were no outlets on the Airbus. Know what she said? “This is a former USAIR plane and they are usually threadbare or basic.” I told her that if I was not mistaken, the American/USAIR merger took place in 2013. 6 years later American is still flying USAIR’s planes “as-is and blaming USAIR?” 6 years? You have got to be kidding. That is no excuse. I explained that I flew as a flight attendant/purser for Pan Am in the “70s. I continued that our founder Juan Trippe & Boeing’s Bill Allen conceptualized the B747 in 1968 and the first “Clipper America” flew JFK to Paris in 1970. 2 years total. In addition,
Gordon Bethune turned Continental Airlines around in record time.
I cannot speak as an airline CEO but from a passenger’s perspective Mr. Parker I’d like to quote Mr. Trump:
“You’re-Fired!”
The only thing left of American is the name sir. American was thrown out with the bath water.
I agree with you. What I would like to to know is this, are the same board of directors in charge? They are the ones pulling the strings! Why doesn’t anyone see that!!!!
Parker should have been kicked to the curb a long time ago..along with ISOM and the rest of his team
He is running AA into the ground just like did with US Airways…The only skills he brought over was just an extension of lack luster ideas including several bankruptcies from the previous brand
He might be a nice guy, but definitely has created a huge industry leading mess , involving
divisiveness and historical levels of low morale…
Unfortunately just the same ole mold from US.
They are so focused on beating Delta with on time performance , they forgot about enhancing customer service , improving ing our brand and image and bringing the employees together.
The employees are working just as hard , if not harder than our competitors, only having to cover up , fix, and apologize to our customers on a daily basis We are tired of hearing for years , the broken record of promises and with no results.
Management from the top down always seems to receive their huge quarterly bonuses
All the while , rank and file has the lowest payout and weakest profit sharing plan compared to our industy peers.
When customers and employees are complaining, the AA Board of Directors need to listen and vote for change .
There is already a no confidence vote from many of us inside the company
Personally, I think Doug Parker should be in jail. Since the day he took over USAirways, he has continually violated contracts. Since transitioning to American Airlines and their in-house unions, the violations are too many to count. Most always the grievances are lengthy and the company will ultimately be found in violation. There is never any monetary reward for the time of violation. Just a promise to uphold the contract or the simple manipulation of interpreting the wording. He has inflated stock values on the backs of his employees. Multiple multiple multiple contract violations with no monetary rewards. He is a thief.
Sounds like your union contracts are crap. Don’t blame AA for that. Blame the union and membership.
I suggested the same: http://bit.ly/2JBvqes
AA has only 24 737 max airplanes. It is not hurting them that bad. If it was they would not have retired the remainder of the md-80s this year. They would have kept them in service until the max return. It’s just a way for Parker to blame his and Isoms piss poor management of an airline that is far to big for him to manage
You are biased because you and the 2 time DWI offender were buddies. The man took AA’s stock to the lowest in its history, labor groups hate him and remember, USAir was ALWAYS a cellar dweller; 4 bankruptcy filings, 2002-2005. You’re right, he’s a real “winner.”
It’s likely inevitable in the (very) long run:
Who ends up buying/absorbing AA? Delta, or United?
AA is bigger than both airlines so how you reckon that would be a thing? lol
The 737 issue is not the problem. Parker is. His leadership is anything but. He has clearly stated he won’t revisit true profit sharing or work rules. Can’t make a deal with our mechanics and has angered our flight attendants. Morale is horrible, customer service is atrocious, and our schedulers are overwhelmed. Good riddance Doug!!!
I agree. Gordon Bethune could save AA. …but is he even interested?
Without speaking with Mr. Bethune I can confidently confirm he’s definitely not interested.
Parker should have been kicked to the curb a long time ago..along with ISOM and the rest of his team
He is running AA into the ground just like did with US Airways…The only skills he brought over was just an extension of lack luster ideas including several bankruptcies from the previous brand
He might be a nice guy, but definitely has created a huge industry leading mess , involving
divisiveness and historical levels of morale…
Unfortunately just the same ole mold from US.
They are so focused on beating Delta with on time performance , but forgot about enhancing customer service renewing our brand and image and bringing the employees together.
The employees are working just as hard , if not harder than our competitors, only having to cover up , fix, and apologize to our customers on a daily basis We are tired of hearing for years , the broken record of promises and with no results.
All the while , having the lowest and weakest profit sharing plan compared to our industy peers.
When customers and employees are complaining, the AA Board of Directors need to listen and vote for change .
There is already a no confidence vote from many of us inside the company
Funny how everyone but people who matter thinks this is imminent. Lmao. AA lives rent free in the minds of broke and lonely bloggers who survive only off click bait and credit card pitches.
Lol, it wouldn’t be the internet without brave commenters like “Your Mom” pointing out our tremendous hypocrisy. Certainly it couldn’t be the atrocious management, failing customer satisfaction rates, labor issues, poor stock performance and overall laugh-ability of the running of American that leads to posts like this. No, no, it’s the egregious credit card links (curious because we don’t have any) that drives “lonely” bloggers like us.
LOL. Amen! I worked for AA until just after the merger. Things immediately started falling apart. The reason that left was that I couldn’t take not being able to provide acceptable customer service anymore. Angry Customers are easier to take when you dont agree with them.
FYI to “Your mom”, speaking of your mom, she wishes she didn’t have you. Sorry. Love, your Aunt Tilda
American Airlines was taken over by an airline 1/3 its size…..US Airways.
UA, unless someone can rescue AA. DL seems occupied with Joint Ventures at the moment.
So sad that he is being unfairly picked on. No CEO has done more for this airline than him. But no nothing investors always engage in witch hunt. Maybe je should sell some AA secrets to the other two airlines or maybe grab a couple of FAs by their pu$%y. Americans would love that.
Hopefully he hired a bunch of his incompetent relatives at top management position to profit off of the airline. If he had beaten a minority like in united airlines he wouldn’t be in this predicament. Americans love that.
Are you kidding? Dear Dougie is the one who made these asinine statements: “That 30-in. pitch, having done it myself, is much more comfortable than our existing 31-in. pitch on an MD-80. It feels like a much better product … The fact is that a seat is an inch [narrower] and more comfortable …”.
He needs to GO – NOW!!!!!
Don’t feed the troll…Debit used to post on OMAAT but seems like Lucky finally banned him from that site. Hopefully Matt will do the same here.
Lots of mistakes in decision making, and may very well be on the way out. But don’t blame him for the mechanic union issues. They’ve had an offer on the table for months that’s better than UAL, Delta, or anyone else for that matter. TWU-IAM leaders are a joke. Want to blame Doug for no IFE, Oasis, etc. it’s all fair game. But the TWU-IAM debacle is more on union leaders than management this time around.
What past airline has Parker worked for that is still in business? As an AA employee with 32 plus years, he has brought us further down than anything has. He and his cronies need gone, ASAP.
Doug does not have secrets, however if you like to know how to drive a airline into the ground, twice, then he’s your man.
You are a classless ass&@%#. I am a 32 yr. Flt. Attendant for AA. If only I could meet you face to face, I’d knock your teeth out.
I’m a forever AA fan and customer.
From where I sit (usually in the exit row), it looks like there are tons of well intentioned employees dying to make a good airline but hamstrung by management’s apparent drive to a scintilla above mediocrity.
This is no way for a tremendous airline like AA to be.
The merger was like mixing oil and water … shouldn’t have been tried and can’t be forced to last. This I hold Mr Parker responsible for. Precious time, energy and resources were squandered when they could have been spent on harmonizing labor. Sad.
Mr Parker, despite his best intentions and efforts, probably can’t be the one to take the next steps.
But who can?? I pray for AA, which can once again be Something Special in the Air.
What cave have you been hiding in, we all have been screaming for quite sometime. Unions to blame? Funny, DL and United and now southwest have respectable wages and benefits compared to AA. Is your healthcare affordable?
There are a few inaccuracies in this story. Letting go of Kirby was tactical because UA had approached Isom which he reported to AAs board as required. AA knew they could only keep one and Kirby was already higher level than Isom so it made sense to keep Isom and lose Kirby. Second, the LATAM deal isn’t because of an issue between the two other than maybe LATAM needing someone to take over their 350s that AA wouldn’t have wanted. Once the Chilean govt refused to approve the JV there wasn’t going to be a lot of value. And DL adds very little value to LATAM. They just were an ATM that LATAM needed
First, it seems Mr. Parker has several user names here. Secondly he is how he’s failed AA…
1. Abandoned Employees
2. Abandoned Labor Partners
3. Abandoned Elite High Value Customers
4. Abandoned service and product…for failed profit
5. Abandoned Airline Partners.
Goodbye.
Get him out of there!!
pick up a stray dog from the street & he might outperform Doug
Stupid comment.
“which is entirely draconian in my opinion“
Please look up the common usage of the term “draconian” and then stand in a corner and contemplate your sophomoric use of the expression – how is an antiquated regulatory law (which I whole heartedly disagree with) equate to enslaving someone for an unpaid debt.
First of all Zippy Dog, no one puts baby in a corner.
Second, your definition might be a valid one but too narrow. Here is what dictionary.com says:
dra·co·ni·an
/drəˈkōnēən/
adjective
(of laws or their application) excessively harsh and severe.
Now let’s put that all back together using the definition instead of the word: “which in my opinion is entirely harsh and severe.”
It doesn’t have the elegance of my choice but it does work and is correct. I’m not sure where you got your definition of draconian because the first four results I saw when verifying it weren’t close to anything about slavery at all.
The bottom line is
Since the merger our front line management teams have no clue of the airline industry. Numbers are fudged from stations to show great numbers, this is a huge problem when upper management looks over the statistics. Thinking a good product is out there.
Parker’s business model seems to be explained by trying to save a million dollars by chasing off 10 million dollars in revenue. It’s clear that AA hates human customers. They should just fly cargo. As an Ex-Plat, I will choose Delta every chance I get for one simple reason… humane treatment. Their seat pitch is unsafe. AAdvantage program is a fraud. AA is an embarrassment to those of us that live in DFW.
One factual correction here: Alaska is not distancing themselves from American. The link says that Alaska is getting butchered by partners leaving, so consequently American leaving hurts even more. Unless Alaska has suddenly developed some strange form of insanity, this is completely on AA.
I guess I should clarify. Whether it’s a case of those partners walking away (LATAM) or being driven away by American (Alaska) the result is essentially the same: a small group of friends is getting still smaller. Pretty soon they will be at the cafeteria table alone and no one will want to talk to them.
I worked under him as CEO of US Airways and somewhere he lost his way during this merger. Many of my fellow Legacy US coworkers agree. He jumped ship and got away from who he was. His new philosophy (or whoever convinced him this is the way to go) does not work. And all the decisions he’s made thus far has been detrimental to the company on a whole.
I agree with your conclusion but for a far different reason – from the seat of a former AA loyalist, Parker failed BECAUSE he tried to run the airline just like America West and US Airways. Cranky Flier had a post several years ago about this, but the gist of his take on Parker’s strategy to turn around both airlines was “fly the planes on time, keep them clean, and meet or beat the competition on schedule and price, and customers will fly us even if the onboard product is no frills”. That worked for HP and US, but has been an abysmal failure at AA given that it’s a very different customer group with different expectations. Especially since AA can’t even get the first two prongs of that strategy right!
The problem is that Piggly Wiggly Parker (as many employees call him) has brought AA down to budget carrier service without budget carrier costs. He reversed all the progress that the previous management was putting into place- the new 777-300s and A321Ts with their really nice cabins, personal video screens at every seat, improved catering, etc. I remember being told as a legacy AA employee during bankruptcy restructuring that in order to compete, we had to offer a product that stood out from the competition and we had to be a notch above the rest. Then the unions went on a mission to oust Horton and Co., thinking that Parker was some sort of savior. Most legacy AA employees will tell you that they didn’t agree with their perspective unions, but they went ahead with it anyway.
The three unions truly made a huge mistake and I’ve watched Parker tear down any progress we were making in terms of product. AA wasn’t Emirates, but it had a great deal of potential, but I see everything taken away- video screens removed, downgrades in inflight catering, devaluation of the AAdvantage program, anything that might be perceived as a little extra that might mean something to the passenger taken away so that now AA is stepping over dollars to pick up nickels. Not to mention the massive downsizing of the Chicago and New York hubs, both deemed “cornerstones” of American under the Horton team. Even small things like the vanity cabinet with the mirror in the business class seats of the 777-300 are being removed and replaced with a couple metal bars where the space is, all to save a buck without any regard for passenger comfort.
No matter how much customers complain about the negative changes, it falls upon deaf ears with this mismanagement team in place, and they just give excuses why they keep doing the same thing. It’s a combination of both product and service that makes a great airline, Delta seems to be hitting the right nail on the head.
The Blame for all this Madness rest solely on APFA, TWU and APA. Funny how they are all complaining now when their masterpiece is in full action.
No it doesn’t. The cutbacks in coach, Project Oasis, the worsening premium product, these are all driving away customers and have nothing to do with the people fixing the airplanes.
You are absolutely right…every item you covered. By the way, we Flt. Attendants call him “Dougweiser.”
Parker has failed stockholders and the expectations of employees, not to mention customers, who according to internal policy matter less than short term costs.
I’ve worked for AAL since 1984 as an A&P Technician. The transition since we were taken through bankruptcy has not gone well at all. Out IT systems are a joke. Our operations run on separate Maintenance Programs to this day due to incompetence on part of senior officers. And they deflect criticism by suing US which is a total farce.
I’m retiring. God help anyone at AA from this point forward.
I’ve been an AA Employee nearly six years. We want to take good care of our customers, and we want to be proud of our airline. But month after month policies are enacted and products rolled out or taken away that makes it more and more difficult, nigh unto impossible. I liked Douggie in the beginning. Now I don’t trust him. I don’t believe he cares about me or my customers. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to see him go. I hope it’s sooner than later. And I won’t be surprised if he gets some kind of bonus in the millions on his way out while I continue to struggle paycheck to paycheck.
Parker’s done fine. AA is just stuck in the 1960s. Need less manual and more efficient systems then “this is how we’ve always done it.” September was reported as one of best months post merger. Now that summer is over MX is not purposely causing as many delays, the results show. If a new CEO comes in they need to work on system efficiency. Then look at Delta and United at 87,000 and 88,000 employees. AA is so inefficient that we are proportionally too many employees at 130,000. Should be down around 95 to 105,000. A new CEO should fire 20,000 employees….starting with the mechanics and ground personnel that cause delays, purposely break aircraft, the ones I find sleeping in 1st class instead of working, and those that refuse to work on planes….get rid of the dead weight and we can get back to being efficient. Plus 20,000 jobs cut will add about $1.5B back in AA’s pocket and put us in line with Delta profits.
Remember supervisors and managers will be the first of the 30,000 to go, that’s why there is the APA, TWU and flight attendant unions. Not to mention all the dead weight at Dallas. You can join the masses out the door.
Copied and pasted from an AA employee message board post…
“If you look at the airlines that are known for their relationship with employees and compare them to us at a 5 year look back the investors have voted and AAL is the loser:
American down 31%
Alaska up 57%
Southwest up 65%
JetBlue up 47%
Delta up 59%
Even United is up 77%
There is nobody to blame but themselves. They have instituted every plan they desired. Every policy. Every trick or gimmick. They’ve bought billions back of stock and the price still lags competitors badly. They close the door on customers 10 prior yet our metrics do not lead the industry. They give lip service to “culture”. They overbook flights and hubs, they cancel flights, they communicate poorly to customers. They’ve got the operation that they planned for and implemented. 100% it’s their operation. It’s what they wanted.“
AA has not treated customers well and picks money making schemes over great journies. AA has diluted the value of miles and loyalty. I’m a Platinum and it buys me little. It used to mean something and upgrades happened once in a while. Now it almost never happens. There are better airlines that I’m now considering because my Platinum means almost nothing.
“Now into October, it looks like that prediction may be true, depending on one’s definition of summer.”
I don’t believe anyone’s definition of summer includes October, regardless of the weather, as seasons are not determined by the weather. Like most people, you predicted he will be gone soon, and like many, your timing was off. That’s all. We’ll just have to wait and see how far off you were.
It seems not so long again that American was completely dominant: not more than a decade or so; their fall from grace has been amazingly fast. That would suggest “root and branch” changes are necessary rather than just dumping Parker.
Not so long AGO
The problem is the middle managers are very good at sweeping problems under the rug. Doug is the emperor with no clothes
Parker should have been kicked to the curb a long time ago..along with ISOM and the rest of his team
He is running AA into the ground just like did with US Airways…The only skills he brought over was just an extension of lack luster ideas including several bankruptcies from the previous brand
He might be a nice guy, but definitely has created a huge industry leading mess , involving
divisiveness and historical levels of low morale…
Unfortunately just the same ole mold from US.
They are so focused on beating Delta with on time performance , but forgot about enhancing customer service renewing our brand and image and bringing the employees together.
The employees are working just as hard , if not harder than our competitors, only having to cover up , fix, and apologize to our customers on a daily basis We are tired of hearing for years , the broken record of promises and with no results.
All the while , having the lowest and weakest profit sharing plan compared to our industy peers.
When customers and employees are complaining, the AA Board of Directors need to listen and vote for change .
There is already a no confidence vote from many of us inside the company
I’ve seen nothing but echo-chamber chatter and clickbait headlines. Where is the proof that anything like this is being discussed? Any inside info? Any indicators from the AA BOD? Otherwise, it just seems you’re trying to impact the AA stock price so you can unload your investment.
Lol. I don’t think my 32 shares are going to change anyone’s life. When Kirby is asked by national media about taking the role, it’s being discussed elsewhere.
Actually, I’ve seen at least two posts from beyond the “miles & points” space – one was at Skift, the other Cranky Flier (aka Brett Snyder), assuming that makes a difference since I have found that most of the bloggers in the Boarding Area universe are very knowledgeable.
Sure, some posts are heavy on promoting use of bank cards – but that’s how the bills are paid, while a great deal of excellent commentary & analysis from the experts blog here also are widely quoted in the best “mainstream” media publications such as The NY Times, Wall Street Journal or CNBC (just to name but a few), which they, and their employer (Boarding Area) make available **FOR FREE**.
So, that some posts promote products that pay their salaries so they can put food on their families’ tables, or have attention grabbing headlines that are designed to pique readers’ curiosity (as any publication needs to do anyway…even the august NY Times needs to have headlines & “pull quotes” to get attention even if they’re more staid than say the long ago infamous tabloid headline in NYC that said: “Headless Body Found in Topless Bar”).
And the publications state clearly that they often get commissions when readers sign up for the cards they offer.
Frankly, that’s a small price to pay for information that I have yet to find any bit less useful and informative than those that have paid subscription models or are intended to promote consulting services.
Oh, sure, I may disagree with the opinions expressed or the bias towards premium flyers (but, hey, that’s the audience likeliest to have the disposable incomes or generous corporate travel policies that the premium bank cards and premium cabins/lounges, etc. so I certainly get that this plays a part in the content tending to be premium travel/premium cabin/amenity heavy in its coverage while tending to be much less focused on economy flyers); but as far as their underlying knowledge of the airline (and for some hotels) industry (industries), most of the bloggers are very capable at what they do.
So, I’m finding the criticism you expressed a bit unfair that suggests Kyle, or his peers at sister blogs got this news regarding Doug Parker wrong – because the fact is, most industry experts and observers agree it’s time for a change of leadership at American Airlines.
Some may disagree on nit-picky things as to why change is needed; but overall, most agree that change (assuming the Board picks the right person to replace Parker) offers the best path towards fixing what ails American Airlines because shareholders/Wall Street, employees & flyers are all in agreement that Parker and his team have lost their confidence.
And that’s the three most important stakeholders which are all in agreement on at least a need for change.
As to the priorities and strategies of the future CEO and her/his team, chances are those three stakeholders will have plenty to disagree over (as this is the airline industry after all, which is capital intensive; labor intensive; and we flyers are a very vocal group!) – but for now, everyone pretty much agrees it’s time for Dougie P and his team from America West to clear out and move on.
Wow Howard, can you comment every week? Thanks for this, it says a lot that I have not and I appreciate it.
To be clear, LiveAndLetsFly does not currently sell credit cards to pay the bills. Don’t misunderstand me, we would absolutely do so if we had the bank relationships for cards. After all, we use them ourselves and know that they add value to the readership but we would only ever recommend those that add value. For example, I think that American miles are nearly useless for long haul awards, but still occasionally find value as I have for an upcoming trip. Their current offers (we do not sell credit cards) will add value for some of our readership and have for me personally – so I could in good conscience recommend it for the right use case. However, I loathe IHG and do not find value in their brand, I would not, could not recommend their card without a serious sea change in their program. I wouldn’t do so just for money, just as we turn down all kinds of affiliate links that don’t add value to our reader’s experience.
Other bloggers can do what they like with their site and if readers do not want to support them, don’t click the link or don’t visit their site. That power is in the hands of the reader.
Back to our original programming… Inc.com put out a post yesterday about how laughable the CFO’s comments are regarding product changes (management decisions) http://bitly.com/30VYYZn which also supports my post that it’s not just Parker that has to go (http://bit.ly/2vC9oQF)
Wait a minute! What about Robin Hayes as CEO of JetBlue?
Don’t know if he has dual citizenship (as for example, JetBlue’s founder and original CEO, David Neeleman has), or if Hayes became a naturalized US citizen and outright renounced his U.K. citizenship, but for sure Hayes, who came to JetBlue from British Airways, is NOT American born IIRC.
There are other citizenship requirements, for example majority ownership of equity and the Board of Directors also being comprised of a numerical majority of American citizens, or perhaps other criteria as applies to Senior-most executives also comprising a majority of American citizens, but AFAIK, there is NO specific prohibition stating that the CEO must be an American citizen.
I could be wrong as I have NOT taken time out to double check this out prior to posting this today, but I don’t recall seeing anything in recent years specifically stating the CEO of a USA-flagged airline must/shall be a citizen of the USA.
PS: Isn’t Don Carty, former CEO of AMR, the former name of legacy American Airlines’ parent company, Canadian?
If not him, I’m pretty sure one of AMR’s past CEO’s was Canadian.
Normally I prefer to fact check before posting comments, but don’t have time today to get sidetracked!
Maybe later today/this week – but not right now… 🙁
LOL…well, 32 shares shouldn’t, but I don’t know your situation.
If “national media” had a clue, they certainly wouldn’t be asking if Kirby was interested. I’ll have to search for those articles and take a look.
@Greg, Skift, and Brian Summers, who is a well respected industry journalist/industry analyst, had a prominently featured interview last week that specifically discussed Scott’s reason for leaving American Airlines for United after Doug Parker had a change of heart about leaving AA in 2016 where Scott said he intends to spend the rest of his airline industry career working at United, and as part of Oscar Munoz’ team as long as Oscar wants to remain with United.
There’s NO idle or careless speculation by Kyle or anyone else.
Scott had a bit of a “heart to heart” with Brian Summers with lots of on the record quotes, and probably a whole lot of background info, too, that went into the commentary & analysis that Brian Summers presented in his marquee Skift article.
Just hop over to Skift – and you’ll find pretty much everything you said you have yet to find as of when your post above was written.
Cheers!
With all due respect, Doug might have been a nice guy in B-School, but the school clearly did not teach him how to put on his “big boy pants” and be a leader instead of just a finance wonk.
IMHO, stellar executive leadership takes accountability and doesn’t put the blame on others. Doug and his CFO want to just blame everyone but themselves (as per recent industry comments) and think just cutting costs will be the answer.
Blame the woes on the “Max”? C’mon, how about admitting you bought a fleet of modern day Corvairs, with no contingency plans? Blame the mechanics? What about the school B-school though that if you take care of your customers and your people, the numbers will work for themselves?
This ship’s captain is asleep at the wheel and the company is sailing right into the rocks, unless someone wakes up and grabs the wheel.
– A lifetime, 3M miler who rarely flies them anymore.
Karma sucks, doesn’t it?
I am making this comment as the widow of an employee who spent 31 years with TWA, stayed to train his replacements when American took over, and then watched his entire department demolished when they laid everyone off after they had moved from St Louis to Dallas, bought new homes, and put their kids in new schools. All of this happened after AA “promised” everyone from TWA was going to keep their jobs and that St Louis would remain a hub. 33 years of service my husband gave to the airlines, he stayed to train the people who took his job away, and he got nothing when he retired early because they outsourced the job he transferred to….. No retirement benefits, not even a thank-you letter.
I worked with a CNA at the hospital where I was employed — she had been a flight attendant at TWA for 26 years and was laid off within a year of American taking over. First they took her route away; she lost her seniority; then they kicked her to the curb like all the other former TWA attendants. We knew they were lying when they made all those promises, but we couldn’t do anything about it. My husband ended up working in a factory for $9.50 an hour after giving more than three decades of his life to the airline industry.
American’s getting back what they gave us. I feel bad for the employees, but the management is getting what they deserve.
Interesting on a flight I sit right across from 12 mechanical workers. They sit there for an average of 2 hours, waiting to clock out. On my flight there was a mechanical issue, while these great employees were waiting on that slow moving time clock. Why not worry about who’s running the ship and focus on the people that will keep you sitting in that seat waiting on that slow moving time clock, YOUR PASSENGERS. If you say anything you are verbally abused and lied too. A CEO can’t teach that, it’s a job requirement for working at American
So now that we are into the new year – is your prediction still “not far off”?
I think the answer is yes. It was bold calling for the ouster of Parker back in the summer…or even to claim it would be imminent as fall hit – but it was wrong – not based on the timing – based on the outcome.
So the employees are not happy with management – gee, welcome to the airline industry. A contentious contract negotiation…nothing new there either.
The customers are not satisfied with AA’s product…well, its is just a matter of time until it’s Delta that is in the doghouse – or United – or even Southwest.
On-time performance suffering…funny how that clears up when you shine a light on the real cause.
As far as the Kirby proof…he was able to state emphatically that he would not be taking the AA job because he knew he was about to get the United CEO job. Had that not been on the table, and Parker was really on the outs…Kirby would have been there in a minute. Kirby has been aiming for a CEO seat since he entered the airline biz…as for his departure from AA – I don’t think Parker ever wanted Kirby to replace him (surprised they were able to work together as long as they did)- and the declaration that he allegedly read was likely the Board communicating that if Parker did retire they Would Not make Kirby CEO. I would also not be surprised that Kirby had been talking to United and others long before this meeting to line up his next move…another reason to send him in his way.
So should we still be waiting for the “imminent” ouster of Doug Parker…or can you put that on the shelf for a while and discuss something of real importance.