Hirst I forgot about (lawyers...)
West had a layover away from NW - hired in on the Delta side - though clearly as a 'navigator' of the NW weeds.
Anderson had been away for 5 years.
Point being - you didn't have anyone part of NW at the time of the merger but Hirst and IT running the show anymore.
It was a clear message.
I bet if they went truly all-in CO style at the very beginning they would have made more mistakes quickly, but recognized them more quickly - since they trusted each other's read.
Instead, mistakes probably got explained away ad nauseum by insecure, unfamiliar mgmt team members trying to CYA, instead of being fixed. UA had Tilton as Chairman for the first 2-3 years which further complicated.
Same if they had gone all-in UA style and left Houston in the dust from the start. They would have course corrected more quickly.
I do think UA used its FFP to bandage many years of unreliable ops during the early-mid 2000s. It wasn't sustainable, and frankly not very profitable, but they tried it.
Originally Posted by
spin88
First, I have no idea what you are talking about the senior positions. Anderson (CEO) came from NW, hired to do the integration. He had no loyalty to the DL way. Bastain (president) was from DL. Hauenstein (EVP/CRO) came from Italia, and before that CO. Jacobson (CFO) came from DL. Gil West (EVP/COO) came from NW. Hirst (EVP/Gen Counsel) came from NW.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I see two DL lifers, three folks from NW (including Anderson) and one from Italia/CO running DL today.
Yes, United was fixated on the CO/UA politics, but whose fault was that? Anderson certainly has not let similar issues develop at DL... The tone was set by Jeff and some of his ill advised comments at the start of the merger gave the impression that where you were from was more important than doing a good job.
What you then had at UA under Jeff was classic group think, group think that was limited in its vision to running a fortress hub airline ex-IAH and EWR, without bothering to understand any other markets.
p.s. I agree that a FFP can't make up for "5 years of unreliable ops" but I don't think any airline is has has tried that. Gordo launched a better FFP program to win back HVFers. UA had one to make up for poor service product and give the best Flyers better service, then kept it as their product and ops got better, used it as a draw. AS has always viewed it as a major part of their stratagy.
The problem for UA (and likely why AA has not cut Advantage) is that if you give up the lock in by taking a meat ax to your FFP, when "unreliable ops" happen, then you have little to fall back on. That has been UA's problem under Jeff.