Nicksterguy

Well - Here is what he said:

https://www.facebook.com/GordonBethuneOfficial?fref=ts

I've been asked to comment on "howz it going ?" I thought I'd give you my view.
In business you may measure success in many different ways. Shareholders (owners) mostly measure earnings per share.....that number usually is a result of a well organized and well run company that excels in the competitive market place. It can only be achieved with a work force that is proud of their company and shows it with pride in their service delivery. United has the best employees, the best fleet and the best route network. You should all be proud of your position in the industry...you are admired and envied by your peers.
The constraints of the recent merger agreement did not allow the new CEO a free hand in making decisions about executive personnel or other strategic moves for two years. That was just a cost of getting an agreement. The agreement was vital to the long term viability of CAL. It needed to happen and so sacrifices were made.
While understandable,many employees were not accustomed to poor operational performance that were a result of less than optimum operational planning and decision making. Since the CEO and Chairman titles were consolidated, I have seen a significant improvement in the operation and so have most customers and employees. That allowed for a single voice for decision making...the way I enjoyed my time at CAL as both Chairman and CEO.
Jeff was my first choice as General Counsel and was an outstanding contributor to our early successes in 1995 through my departure in December 2004. He is completely honest and trustworthy. I know no one with higher integrity.
I saw today where the financial market analyst have again raised the earning estimates for UAL based on current performance. I think you are on a roll and will enjoy profitability and job security for many years to come. Why on earth would anyone trade this position and hand it over to just another unknown, unproven wannabe ? I'd play the strong hand you've been dealt.
I don't know anyone that doesn't have a zit on them somewhere...no body's perfect....You guys are centerfold material.

Doc Savage

*blah blah blah*...oil prices are down so current earnings estimates are higher, like all the airlines...*blah blah blah*

Always Flyin

Funny (ha, ha) that he didn't mention UA's performance vis-a-vis its competition (DL and AA).

While UA is doing well financially, it is under-performing its competition. That is not a good indicator for future earnings.

channa

What is he supposed to say? He can't disparage the guy publicly. Get Gordon one on one over some beers (or whisky) and find out for real. Gordon's not stupid.

Earnings estimates are higher because of fuel and because UA has more upside than the other carriers. When you're underperforming, there's always more potential upside should they come around.

cerealmarketer

{OT content removed per moderator note}

Gordon is right about the UA situation - didn't realize there was a clause in the merger making them hamstrung for 2 years in terms of key executive changes.

Explains the muddled approach for a while.

LASUA1K

Am I the only person who really doesn't care what Gordon says. I see him as the person who's to blame for all the Express Aircraft. He had a captive hub in IAH, with some very high fares...

Oh well, I really don't see it with him.. I'll accept my lashes now...

WineCountryUA

TOPIC CHECK

While debating UA relative positive to other airline finances is fun for many (and stock charts to prove either position), this thread was started to discuss Gordon Bethune FB's post -- let's stay to that topic and discuss finances in the many available threads on that topic.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

Darlox

*bangs head into desk*

Gordon Bethune was largely responsible for installing this management team. He's also a consummate businessman, who realizes that if a respected voice comes out of the wilderness and starts badmouthing management of his own former company, that it's going to further factionalize the situation and start a whole new front in the employee war, that he tacitly acknowledges is raging by asking hypothetical questions of that workforce.

{OT content removed}

Bethune acknowledges "sacrifices" and "less than optimum ... decision making". And then goes on to state that everyone should rally behind the team, and things will get better.

What would you expect him to say?? Unless you plan to haul him out of retirement and prop him up in a chair in Willis Tower, I would expect nothing different. It's like asking a politician why the economy is so bad... you expect some damning facts-based condemnation of the situation? He's cheerleading, as well he should be, given his position.

channa

Well said.

Recall that Gordon was very successful with CO's turnaround with a markedly different competitive structure than what UA was accustomed to facing.

For him to say Jeff should have seen that would be badmouthing Jeff, so that's not going to happen. It would also be an admission that his business model did not work in a competitive environment.

While UA management have had their hands tied post-merger, Gordon's lips are also tied due to the political nature of everything he says.

bocastephen

Needless to say, if Gordon was still CEO, even if the merger took place (which it would not), our present day situation WRT operational reliability, product quality, workforce satisfaction and other metrics would be astronomically better than they are today.

Of course he is not going to take potshots at current management in public regardless of who hired them, but comparing Gordon's work resurrecting Continental vs Smisek's performance merging CO and UA, I will re-quote Lloyd Bentson's remark to Dan Quayle as "Mr Smisek, you're no Gordon Bethune".

REPUBLIC757

I expect nothing more, nothing less from his comments. Of course he is going to back up his old crony no matter what.

Although, this also helps me solidify that Gordon's vision at CO was entirely overrated and realistically a bunch of crap. He's no different from Smisek.

channa

Gordon's vision at CO was entirely appropriate for CO. It may not scale well or apply well beyond CO, but that doesn't make it crap. It was rather effective for the airline he led.

BearX220

Gordo has always been diplomatic in public since the merger and argued that Team Smisek ought to get the benefit of the doubt. God knows what he thinks in private but he has no incentive to be critical in public. It would help nothing.

Gordo ran the best two-captive-hub limited-network niche airline in the country for a few years, he did revive CO from its Lorenzo crisis, and he was a lot better than the current crew at labor relations and driving positive work culture. But a successful term running Continental was no preparation for running a major, mainstream global airline with numerous competitors.

bmwe92fan

This to me is a key point - The challenge running UA today is honestly not comparable to running the old CO - it doesn't mean that GB couldn't come up with a better strategy than team Smisek - but to me to try and compare the two isn't fair or realistic.

The issues facing UA are massive and I think GB knows it - and it's on a fundamentally different scale. I think he was being polite - but also acknowledging that he supports Jeff - personally and professionally. I read it as genuine, not political, and a note to employees that it's time to move forward and stop running a business looking in the rearview mirror longing for the good old days...

nerdbirdsjc

Gordon Bethune was a great leader for Continental, but some of his strategic decisions basically forced CO to continually have its livelihood beholden to another major airline, first NW then UA.

Gordon had many foul things to say about UA (including calling it HIV+) when he was in charge at CO, but if he was around in 2010 he would have similarly pushed for a merger with United -- the stay-independent course was over the minute Delta and Northwest inked their deal in April 2008. In fact, Gordon might well have insisted that United be even more "Continental" than it is now, with a near-total sweep of the entire leadership team and management workforce, and HQ placement in Houston.

The integration mechanics themselves have been well discussed, but suffice it to say that legacy United was such a smoke-and-mirrors type of mess that no integration would have gone smoothly (which is partly why UA stayed single for so long even after years of telegraphing merger interest).