President Trump’s impeachment and potential removal from office could have consequences beyond the immediate result. Likewise, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker’s removal may have a lasting effect.
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Impeachment of the President, Removal From Office
For just the third time in the nearly 250-year history of the United States, a president has been impeached. To be clear, that in no way means President Trump will be removed from office – in fact it’s rather unlikely that will be the case. That said, a significant portion of the country backs his removal from office even if it’s unlikely to occur.
According to Forbes and Wikipedia, if President Trump were to be removed from office, Vice President Mike Pence would take over the Oval Office with Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, becoming the Vice President. (Some commenters have disputed this chain of succession.) a representative of selected by the (new) president and affirmed by a majority in both houses of congress. (HT: Chad G)
But what does this have to do with Doug Parker…?
Pilot Union Latest to Call for Parker’s Head
The Allied Pilot’s Association, which represents 15,000 of American Airlines captains and first officers, announced that its Philadelphia base wants CEO Doug Parker gone. This is significant for two key reasons. The first, PHL is a major hub for the carrier and specifically, for the US Airways executives that now lead the charge for the carrier. Losing their support is not a good sign. The second is that this is yet another labor group that feels passionately that management is the problem.
Isom, Pence – Better or Worse?
For President Trump’s detractors, impeachment may have seemed like the right answer. However, if Trump is removed from office, the question some might ask is whether Vice President Pence is better suited for the job. Likewise, will American Airlines President, Robert Isom, who many feel would be the undisputed replacement be a better fit for the job than CEO Doug Parker?
In the case of the presidency, Trump seems to stand on his own. While Pence’s policies may not satisfy Trump’s detractors, he’s not the lightning rod and he also doesn’t seem to be the man behind the curtain pulling the strings.
But with Parker and Isom, the situation could be different. Previous American Airlines president Kirby (who left for a similar position at United and CEO in March) was responsible for devising many of the loathed changes that have haunted customers and crew alike. Isom, in turn, has been following Scott Kirby’s path and is named by both many to be part of the problem with the airline. In fact, I wrote that getting rid of Parker doesn’t solve American’s problems.
However, after some consideration, I would postulate that eliminating Parker may make the situation worse. How? The board will seek out stability in a time of tumult especially from within the team with a proven track record of managing the business and a known entity to the rest of the company’s leadership. That could lead to giving Isom time in the role and extending poor customer-last policies (like Oasis aircraft refits) and a prolonged failure to appease labor.
Is Parker the puppeteer or the puppet?
Conclusion
Sometimes it’s better to stick with the devil you know and in this case, I can’t really say whether replacing Parker will end the problems at American Airlines or extend the life of the rest of the team creating them.
What do you think? Will removal of Doug Parker solve American’s woes as labor groups (and me) believe that it may? Or will it only perpetuate bad policies by those who replace him?
0% chance of Trump being removed from office.
Parker on the other hand, and Isom both need replaced by the board of directors.
Nancy Pelosi would NOT become Vice President. That position would remain vacant until a new Vice President is nominated and confirmed by Congress. The Speaker of the House is 2nd in line for presidential succession. So if Trump and Pence were to somehow die at the same time, Pelosi would finish our the term as President.
I have linked to a Forbes article that coincides with Wikipedia (not sure which is more reputable) that agrees that the VP role would follow Presidential succession.
Wikipedia is wacky. Administrators are anonymous and when they apply, they don’t disclose their names. Some are hackers.
Anyone can write anything, even you. You could change Wikipedia to say that only 50% is needed to remove Trump. I know of some errors that have remained for years because administrators ban users if they correct an error (happens in more in obscure articles). I think they want errors so kids will get things wrong in school. One error is a physics topic.
https://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am25
maybe just read it yourself, right from the horses mouth.
agree. Zero percent chance.
Trump could rape the Republicans daughters in front of them and they’d say thank you, then they’d all go to church and thank their god for letting their pastor [redacted by admin] their sons.
What do you expect of Epstein’s friends lol
AA definitely needs to do something major to improve, as they are basically failing customers, employees and shareholders right now. Also FYI Pelosi would not become Vice President if Trump were removed from office.
See this link: http://bitly.com/30WdRwz for Pelosi appointment. Feel free to submit where Forbes and Wikipedia are wrong, I am happy to correct the piece if you have differing source information.
See my post below. Also you could ask Matthew, who has a law degree and a hard-on for national politics! lol
Isom has talked about improving operations since he arrived … at America West. No joy, since, at AWA, AAA, or AAL. He talks a good game, and that’s the extent of it. Just keep rewarding him for beating on agents and supervisors to make D-zero, and leave revenue at the gate. It’s working. He’s making bank while AA stumbles along. Wake up, AAL Board!
That’s the Presidential Line of Succession. Means nothing about VP as there is no line of succession. Better to follow the constitution which spells this out.
When Ford became president, he selected Rockefeller to be his VP. The Speaker, Carl Albert, did NOT become VP. Somehow, you are thinking everyone moves up the line if the president is removed. That is not the case. For example, the attorney general does NOT become the secretary of defense.
Well this was educational! The forbes article merely notes Pelosi is 2nd in line. It does not explicitly say she would move up one rung upon removal of Trump. You have assumed that everyone would advance one spot after each removal but that is not what it says. See this snopes article for more info. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vp-pelosi/
Pelosi would not become VP. When Richard Nixon resigned and his VP (Gerald Ford) became President, President Ford got to nominate his VP (Nelson Rockefeller – he wasn’t in a government position at the time); it didn’t automatically go to the Speaker of the House.
Additionally, the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution says
“Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.”
In the unlikely event Trump was removed, Pence would get to nominate his own VP.
Updated with your information.
Updated
I think trump is a piece of [redacted by admin] and his supporters are [redacted by admin] and the world would be a better place if all of them disappeared but i don’t think trump should be removed. He will become a martyr. He should be defeated in the elections for the incompetent idiot he is.
This country is not a rule of laws and i vow to be very expansive in my reading of application of the law if i ever serve on the jury. I used to think obama made a very specious argument about using life experiences in application of law but trump and his spineless, eunuch supporters have convinced me this is a very racist country and laws are not applied equally to everyone.
Preach debit!!!!
Make an attempt to stay on topic…
The whole US Airways bunch needs to go! They have not delivered on pre-merger promises to pilots, FA’s, booking agents, and all other employees. Customer Service has never been an AA strong suit and no longer exists in any form. They have angered and disenfranchised the customers with practices that seem meant to push us away, stock is at an all time low. , employee moral is now so low they are taking it out on the customers. Doug et al have lost the respect and confidence of all three groups. Time to change leadership!
the whole merger brought cancer to the airline. AA will need at least a decade to excise all the tumors.
The fish rots from the head – PAArker must go. Using another presidential analogy…what happened to “the buck stops here” – Truman. PAArker owns the trifecta of a disastrous tenure. None of the 3 most important AA stakeholders (stockholders, employees & customers) think he’s doing a good or effective job.
Kyle, et al:
I would never vote for Trump but you arm chair anti-Trumpsters should grow up and focus on flying.
Why not compare American’s situation to United’s removal of the criminal Jeff Smisek and his replacement with Oscar Muñoz?
Setting aside the (uglier-than-normal) politics, I would argue that the analogy between what’s going on with American Airlines and what’s going on in the Capitol is flawed. Although the American Airlines board of directors may choose to name Isom their CEO if Parker should be shown the door, they are by no means compelled to do so. However, it is quite clear who would ascend to the Presidency should Trump be removed from office; there is no choice in the matter.
Whatever we believe the right answer to be in these situations, I hope that wisdom and sanity prevail in the end.
Why even bring it up on a travel blog. I come here to get away from politics. Half of the country supports Trump, some very much so, because of his sensible immigration policies, while half hate him because many of them have abused the immigration system for their benefit at the expense of others, or are brainwashed by leftist professors that comprise 90% of professors in universities. We all would be a lot happier in two separate countries because liberals and conservatives (and some libertarians) suffer from irreconcilable differences that can never be overcome. I feel the same way about @Debit and people with the same beliefs as he feels about us.
I take this site quite a bit less seriously now after the VP error. I learned about presidential succession in high school government class. This article is an embarrassment…
Lol
This guy’s response is to just lol!!!!!
Nah, Matthew is pretty good – smart guy, though stubborn sometimes. Kyle, on the other hand, is the kind of person you meet all the time who thinks they know a bunch but hasn’t yet mastered how to google his ‘facts’…or proper grammar. He’s kind of like Trump that way.
Sensible immigration policies? He put children in cages. Jesus.
And it’s blog. Go somewhere else if you’re that sensitive.
Sensible immigration policies? He puts children in cages after separating them from their families. He’s encouraging the derp squad over at the TSA to rifle through your laptop and social media accounts. His wall, which will cost hundreds of billions once completed, will solve approximately 2% of our illegal immigration problems.
And it’s his blog. If you’re such a snowflake that a rather tenuous political analogy upset you just go to one of the many alternatives.
Sensible, my ass.
This has nothing to do with conservative vs liberal values and everything to do with simple logic and sanity. No wonder you can’t stand professors. You can’t stand the idea of critical thought. Which I’m wagering you would struggle to define properly.
And Trump is not a conservative. He’s a populist with authoritarian tendencies.
Management is the problem for american. Make those in charge that know nothing about aviation. Dont trust the people whove done the job for decades. And make poor decisions that result in more delays.
I certainly follow your point that removing Parker and installing Isom might result in little to no change at AA. That being said it continues to be clear that AA has lost its way and is performing poorly. It’s once loyal customers are leaving, its employees are seething, and the business is underperforming. There is no part of the AA story right now that can be said to be good news.
I’d like to think that the board would recognize the need for a major course change with the company and find a new CEO who can create that. But at the very least they have to begin the process by firing Parker.
It may well mean installing Isom and that could mean that all the ills of the current regime get extended. But at the very least it would be a signal from the board that a course correction is required. And I suspect having fired Parker Isom would get a much shorter leash from the board.
What we know for sure is that doing nothing isn’t going to right the ship.
All these people saying US Airways is the problem…yeah okay. AA was about to go belly up. Not saying US Airways is Any good, but let’s be realistic…AA was about to go out of business so they weren’t managed any better.