Actions Speak Louder than Words - Oscar Munoz
Apr 28, 2017, 12:47 pm
#76
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Southwest is the definition of minimization & standardization.
People: "Wow WN really turns those planes around! They're better than everyone!"
Real Reason: They minimize all activities. Not loading meals on a plane cuts so much time. Not having seat assignments cuts a lot of headaches. The "people" in WN don't have too many areas to really contribute/screw-up.
United's strategy is different. They have a lot of components. Food, seat assignments, etc. When you have that many spokes in your wheel, they all have to be the same length.
People: "Wow WN really turns those planes around! They're better than everyone!"
Real Reason: They minimize all activities. Not loading meals on a plane cuts so much time. Not having seat assignments cuts a lot of headaches. The "people" in WN don't have too many areas to really contribute/screw-up.
United's strategy is different. They have a lot of components. Food, seat assignments, etc. When you have that many spokes in your wheel, they all have to be the same length.
That doesn't have anything to do with seat assignments or food.
But if it did, wouldn't you expect the one with no seat assignments and no food to be the grouchy one?
Apr 28, 2017, 12:52 pm
#77
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Change is hard...but if you want to change, you need to start. I will keep an open mind, but there is a 99% chance what we will see in a few months is business as usual.
To overhaul the UA corporate culture requires a dramatic change, not incremental policy updates. What we needed this week was on the order of magnitude of Bethune's Go Forward Plan - as I suspected, we didn't get it, neither did the employees, nor do we have a CEO who, like Bethune, realized the machine was broken and being driven by the wrong people, requiring a drastic and dramatic overhaul.
Bethune never bowed to the Board, nor to pesky, whiny insects like Hunter Keay. He saw the problem, fired the deadwood, brought on the right leadership team, crafted a plan and reinvented an entire global airline from scratch. That's what we needed after Smisek was fired - that's what we needed this week. We didn't get it, so I wouldn't plan on any tangible changes anytime soon.
To overhaul the UA corporate culture requires a dramatic change, not incremental policy updates. What we needed this week was on the order of magnitude of Bethune's Go Forward Plan - as I suspected, we didn't get it, neither did the employees, nor do we have a CEO who, like Bethune, realized the machine was broken and being driven by the wrong people, requiring a drastic and dramatic overhaul.
Bethune never bowed to the Board, nor to pesky, whiny insects like Hunter Keay. He saw the problem, fired the deadwood, brought on the right leadership team, crafted a plan and reinvented an entire global airline from scratch. That's what we needed after Smisek was fired - that's what we needed this week. We didn't get it, so I wouldn't plan on any tangible changes anytime soon.
Apr 28, 2017, 2:56 pm
#78
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The changing of the guard in the c-suite since Smisek's departure is unmistakable. Lots of outsiders are in the mix now, no longer the 'next-batter-up' from the Smisek-Compton tree.
It's going to take a long time to undo 10 years of a culture wherein frontline employees were handcuffed and lived in fear of their jobs for even the slightest deviation from increasingly draconian policy.
It's going to take a long time to undo 10 years of a culture wherein frontline employees were handcuffed and lived in fear of their jobs for even the slightest deviation from increasingly draconian policy.
Oscar was charged with taking a soft-shoe, human approach to regain a modicum of trust from the employees. I think he's done that, given he closed the remaining open labor deals in relatively short order and, anecdotally, UA contempt for management seems to have ebbed remarkably since 9/2015. Oscar's a warm, likable, genuine person and that's been effective in thawing labor relations, which historically are atrocious at United.
I'd agree with the doom-and-gloom/meet-the-new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss contingent if United hadn't been able to hire Scott Kirby. Say what you want about him at HP/US/AA, but he brings a level of competence and legitimacy to United's executive offices that had been absent for quite some time. We've only just started the third full quarter with Kirby on board, and he's clearly been assembling a team (Nocella and Quayle, among others). If Oscar was the public face of the company while Jim Compton, et al., remained in C-level roles, then I'd agree with the notion we were only rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic.
Behind the scenes, Kirby is running the show. I'm withholding judgment until his initiatives have time to mature.
I'd agree with the doom-and-gloom/meet-the-new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss contingent if United hadn't been able to hire Scott Kirby. Say what you want about him at HP/US/AA, but he brings a level of competence and legitimacy to United's executive offices that had been absent for quite some time. We've only just started the third full quarter with Kirby on board, and he's clearly been assembling a team (Nocella and Quayle, among others). If Oscar was the public face of the company while Jim Compton, et al., remained in C-level roles, then I'd agree with the notion we were only rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic.
Behind the scenes, Kirby is running the show. I'm withholding judgment until his initiatives have time to mature.
I have no idea what Kirby will do regarding decisions that I think are going to end badly for United (3-4-3 on the 777 in E+, with horrible nearrow seats and having BE fares at all level, offering a BE where DL/AA are offering the same price for regular Y at fares that are not deep discount) but I do credit him with being able to look much more fully at issues, not simply running the business off a spreadsheet like Jeff and his little band of 3rd raters did.
Apr 28, 2017, 4:31 pm
#79
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Change management is not difficult when the change comes top down and the top leaders embrace it in a way that makes the rank and file want to do the same. To issue edicts that are "Do as I say, not as I do" will make people resistant to change. To say "I am rolling up my sleeves and working the trenches with you" and "As a company we are empowering you to be part of the change" is how you'll get employees on board.
Apr 28, 2017, 7:06 pm
#80
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Got the email early this week.
I accepted it for what it was. The CEO said, in essence, never ever again. So I am fine with this.
This 1K booked United for vacations in Y in August.
I just hope Munoz gets his way and instills a culture that insists on doing right by the pax. It will take time. Call me naive, but I think he means it. Time will tell.
I accepted it for what it was. The CEO said, in essence, never ever again. So I am fine with this.
This 1K booked United for vacations in Y in August.
I just hope Munoz gets his way and instills a culture that insists on doing right by the pax. It will take time. Call me naive, but I think he means it. Time will tell.
Apr 28, 2017, 7:42 pm
#81
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True that. And that was part of my point.
Last edited by Miles Ahead; Apr 29, 2017 at 4:08 am
Apr 28, 2017, 8:42 pm
#82
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Apr 28, 2017, 9:25 pm
#83
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Well, Bethune was accountable to a board and other stakeholders. He also didn't reinvent a global airline from scratch. He just ran a good airline with a strong team maximizing the assets available.
Apr 28, 2017, 9:28 pm
#84
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Apr 28, 2017, 10:23 pm
#85
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Then the board sort of interfeared, and he was out... oh well.
Jeff on the other hand had the worlds best network, and the world's best assets, and the worlds biggest airline handed to him on a silver platter. He had the ability to really make those assets shine, and attract a larger share of the highly valuable traffic. Well he listened to the Hunter Keays of the world, and people with MBAs from second and third rated schools, and he destroyed a huge ammount of value. The entire time he was cheared on by the Hunter Keays of the world, and his team of people who could only just made it out of the Ridely school of aviation with Cs.
Not quite sure where Oscar fits in, last few weeks he has been playing the fool...
Apr 28, 2017, 11:37 pm
#86
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Here at the SFO 77B Customer Service Center there's no creative problem solving going on... lots of passengers for a cancelled nearby flight being told to book their own hotels for various flights tomorrow, no bus will be provided tonight.
Apr 29, 2017, 2:08 am
#87
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Actually, what he said was:
...and since most incidents of forcible passenger removal are due to allegations related to safety or security, this promise could be interpreted as "we’ll continue to take people off our flights whenever we choose."
I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but you made up a good word!
That’s why we announced that we will no longer ask law enforcement to remove customers from a flight and customers will not be required to give up their seat once on board – except in matters of safety or security.
I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but you made up a good word!
Apr 29, 2017, 6:16 am
#88
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By the time this message filters down to the frontline staff my feeling is that it will go from "send reinforcements we're going to advance" to "send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance".
Apr 29, 2017, 6:33 am
#89
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Actually he took over an airline that was actually several unintegrated carriers, all of which were horrible, just horrible, and had been destroyed by a wall street wheeler dealer. He built a very well respected company out of basically ashes...
Jeff on the other hand had the world's best network, and the world's best assets, and the world's biggest airline handed to him on a silver platter... and he destroyed a huge amount of value.
Jeff on the other hand had the world's best network, and the world's best assets, and the world's biggest airline handed to him on a silver platter... and he destroyed a huge amount of value.
Bethune at CO created amazing value; Smisek at UA destroyed it.
I don't think Oscar will be remembered for anything extraordinary on either side, creating or destroying.
Apr 29, 2017, 11:44 am
#90
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Actions do speak louder than words. I'm willing to overlook the Dao incident as a freak occurrence that escalated due to a few bad actors.
But other actions that are still on going, such as the implementation of Basic Economy as a thinly veiled fare increase (while insulting our intelligence by couching it as an positive "choice" for the consumer), clearly show how much UA really thinks of their customers.
Remove BE, or at least always implement it as a clear price discount over the previous lowest fare for all routes/markets, and I'll believe UA actually intends to take action on how they treat their customers.
But other actions that are still on going, such as the implementation of Basic Economy as a thinly veiled fare increase (while insulting our intelligence by couching it as an positive "choice" for the consumer), clearly show how much UA really thinks of their customers.
Remove BE, or at least always implement it as a clear price discount over the previous lowest fare for all routes/markets, and I'll believe UA actually intends to take action on how they treat their customers.
