I read the USA Today story reporting on 2nd Q earnings of several airlines.
It is understandable that UA states that it plans a 1B buyback of stock over the next three years. (If and to what extent, it will do this at varied times when the stock price is discounted.) This is a bone the UA board is throwing to the shareholders to keep them happy.
But Southwest has different approach. It had a record quarter of earnings. As a "thank you", it is giving each employee a $200 bonus. That may not seem like much, but it is very obvious to anyone who flies Southwest that its employees are very cohesive, enthusiastic, motivated workers. It really shows in customer service, which further motivates flyers to keep flying.
Contrast with UA with the reported bickering, poorer customer service, less-motivated employees, jobs outsourced, etc.
UA may have reported 2nd Q earnings, but at what cost? How much more could UA earnings grow with happy and motivated employees dealing in positive ways with customers?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...ican/13060163/
Originally Posted by
channa
UA has profit sharing too. I can't find it at the moment, but I'm sure someone has handy the picture of Jeff on a cart in O'Hare with body guards carrying around money bags filled with $100 bills with Jeff's picture on them. I think they also handed out Payday candy bars.....
The $200 is a
bonus. in addition to profit-sharing.
Originally Posted by
channa
That said, culturally, WN and UA are miles apart. UA may say they want a cohesive culture, but then they pin employee groups against each other and antagonize them in other ways (e.g., anti-union propaganda in break rooms and on logins before a vote, RJ flying between hubs before they got it worked out; forced relocations for the FAs, etc.).
This practice of antagonizing employees even dates back to the CO days -- there was one year where workgroups were working out concessions, and they announced that they will only give profit-sharing to those who had worked out a new agreement. The FA agreement did not happen in time, and they did not give profit sharing to FAs. We can debate whether or not that was fair, but they still antagonized a subset of employees.
So while UA goes through similar motions for profit sharing, their actions don't align with that once-every-so-often give-away.
Yes, my point exactly. Southwest's already happy and cohesive employees got an unexpected bonus from the company. UA management does not seem to have a clue about how to build cohesion, teamwork, motivation among its employees, bonus aside. The bonus all by itself is irrelevant, but it is symbolic of two completely different cultures related to employee/management relations. It is an unexpected (and not negotiated ) gesture of appreciation by Southwest. It recognizes that the motivated everyday employees carrying out their tasks of taking reservations, checking persons in, maintaining aircraft, loading luggage, managing boarding, onboard crew, etc., all work together to safely carrier passengers to their destinations. Now, if Southwest keeps making progress towards better on-time rates, it will show even more profits in the future.