The term -Employee "OWNERSHIP"- perpetuates a myth: that the employees are stridently involved in the decisions and accountability of the company.

The employee groups were only represented by 3 members on the BOD, despite owning 55% of the company. Voting rights were not equitable to the stake held.

There was enormous resistance to many, many suggestions to improve UA's overall operations from the various employee groups.
I'm not talking employee benefits here, I'm talking operating the airline more effectively. But Management was even more 'entrenched' given their participation in the ESOP. Despite assurances by Gerry Greenwald that managers that "don't get it" will be removed, this never happened.

And in fact, as someone who holds a small amount of ESOP shares for my time before becoming a flight attendant, I could tell early on that despite the 'hype' it was business as usual from management. Gerry Greenwald had a good vision, but his right hand man Mr. Edwardson, in my first meeting with him, was already issuing divisive proclaimations.

United did change during the period, but such changes in the culture at UA were usually cosmetic, or when in fact implemented were done so because of industry and workplace pressures.

Wall Street's devaluation of airline stocks began during the high-tech frenzy (the 'new economy' with the NASDAQ over 5,000 etc.) This devaluation has continued with the drastic increase in fuel costs, and finally (and much later in the course of events), the increase in labor costs and labor/management tensions.

To attribute the total loss of value in the airline stocks strictly to labor issues or poor employee performance is entirely incorrect, as when all this 'new economy' frenzy was happening, UA was earning record profits, operational performance was good as were the marks for employee performance.

I can bust my butt off, as do many of my co-workers, to provide exceptional service. Does this impact the stock price? Obviously not. Wall Street loves short-term solutions, immediate results. Management makes decisions on this basis. Why do you think the linen/hot towels and meals are being cut? TO IMPROVE SHORT TERM BUDGETS/FINANCIALS AND IMPROVE WALL STREET CONFIDENCE! Are these service cuts short-sighted? Absolutely. But long term thinking and investment still does not garner wall street approval.