Originally Posted by
cranford
in the dark days, a lot of employees lost their pensions in numerous companies, and the dark days are here again...beggars can't be choosers, despite what some european citizens hope for... dead lucky the whole thing hasnt gone down the plughole of life.
personally i think they've done extremely well to sort it out...now we just have to hope the whole thing wasnt a pipe dream, like the welfare state, or universal health care
1) No. These were "earned" in the good old capitalist way. Per the
quid pro quo terms set forth by United. (And yes, with the provision that they could be changed at anytime.) But these were not the welfare state. They were a competitive value proposition. For an accurate read of the historical facts, United backed into this after Delta initiated it. So far DL has held. (NB: DL also initiated the 500-mile minimum earn. When United eliminated it, DL held. UA reinstated it.) Now, on a value proposition like the MM program, the substitution component of elasticity of demand is extremely low. But still, it remains essentially a value proposition.
2) The irony of the quoted comment is palpable. Even as the employees were lured into the "EPO" in lieu of pension (an early model for an all-401K "pension" all in the same company's stock) and some wages and in return for give-backs, the stock value was then drained (good thing they didn't rob it) by Mr. Tilton and his team -- who then received grand golden parachutes by a board of other CEOs similarly situated (good thing it wasn't a union or some other united - small "u" - group such as customers). All of this sanctioned by capitalism, albeit some of its lesser aspects.
3) Rants aside, they
have done a pretty good job with "sorting it out" (a broad, comfortable characterization of their gambit). But there are some hairier aspects, which are never more sorted out than by informed FlyerTalkers who are on this side of the counter.
DL held the line on its MM status program through its acquisition of NW, and is still holding. Many pressed the similar point during the 500-mile push-back.
Back to regularly scheduled programming...
[Another NB: Cards on the table, I like some Europeans. As Mark Twain said...]