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American to pay employee bonuses if AA & US Airways outdo operations of rivals

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Old Jan 24, 2014, 2:21 am
  #1  
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American to pay employee bonuses if AA & US Airways outdo operations of rivals

From a blog entry posted yesterday on Dallas Morning News aviation blog:

“American Airlines Group told American Airlines and US Airways employees Thursday they can earn up to $150 each month if they outdo three big rivals in on-time arrivals, baggage handling and customer satisfaction.

If they beat Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines on all three areas, they’ll get $150. If they place first in two of the categories, they’ll get $100. If they place first in one category, they’ll get $50.”


http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/american-airlines-group-to-pay-employee-bonuses-if-american-us-airways-outdo-operations-of-rivals.html/
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 5:30 am
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American to pay employee bonuses if AA & US Airways outdo operations of rivals

Pay for performance. I like it.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 8:05 am
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US has been doing this for as long as I can remember.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 8:56 am
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Color me skeptical.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 9:15 am
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I think this is a fantastic idea and should certainly motivate a good percent of AA employees to work a little harder. The objective is simple enough and everyone appreciates some type of recognition for good performance. While this is certainly not a revolitionary idea, it does show AA management is trying to do the right thing for their employees. I says: "Hats off AA!."
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 9:27 am
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AA offered the employees 15% first dollar profit sharing in the bankruptcy term sheets. The pilots traded away 2/3 of that in exchange for slightly higher hourly rates and because of the "me-too" clauses applicable to all work groups, everyone else saw their profit sharing percentage reduced to 5% also.

At DL, employees will receive $500 million in profit sharing checks in about three weeks. At UA, the employees will receive $190 million in profit sharing.

These monthly performance bonuses? Crumbs.

AA has previously offered monthly performance "bonuses" like these to the employees. Most airlines have similar plans. This one differs only in the specifics.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 9:32 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by FWAAA

At DL, employees will receive $500 million in profit sharing checks in about three weeks. At UA, the employees will receive $190 million in profit sharing.
Delta also had monthly operations bonus payouts of $90 million for 2013.

$150 payout months will be rare. Conditional probability - winning three of three - makes it so.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 9:34 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by FWAAA
AA offered the employees 15% first dollar profit sharing in the bankruptcy term sheets. The pilots traded away 2/3 of that in exchange for slightly higher hourly rates and because of the "me-too" clauses applicable to all work groups, everyone else saw their profit sharing percentage reduced to 5% also.

At DL, employees will receive $500 million in profit sharing checks in about three weeks. At UA, the employees will receive $190 million in profit sharing.

These monthly performance bonuses? Crumbs.

AA has previously offered monthly performance "bonuses" like these to the employees. Most airlines have similar plans. This one differs only in the specifics.
Love when you make the facts crystal clear so that people don't get lost in the hype.

Again, nice job.

Cheers,
AA777
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 1:02 pm
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American to pay employee bonuses if AA & US Airways outdo operations of rivals

Yes they have had these for a while. It was cute getting them but i dont think anyone changes their ways based on it. Performance is imroved through new programs and management initiatives.

Pretty silly that the pilots threw that away but typical. I cant wait for their hypocritical critical protests of "managements" profit sharing when they divy up 3x that amount to management. The unions will NOT mention that they threw that away for their people, not management.
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 4:28 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by bkafrick
US has been doing this for as long as I can remember.
Yes, and HP did it for years before it was a part of US

I remember when it began, as I was working at the HP CHQ. I can say from a payout standpoint, that it made me much more aware when I was flying standby...no dilly dallying getting on the plane, and no issues with gate checking any bags.
I always felt it was a bit of a PITA, in that they actually cut a separate check for it, which then required a trip to deposit it (rather than just the normal direct deposit).
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 6:38 pm
  #11  
 
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As others have said, this is a HP program that became a US program after the UzS /HP merger. The blog is slightly off - it pays $50 for each 1st place finish among major carriers for O/T, mishandled bags, and complaints to DOT. There's $50 for departure O/T over 70 percent if none of the 1st place criteria are met.

Jim
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 9:13 pm
  #12  
 
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To me, this shows that they aren't serious about making improvements.

This isn't going to have any meaningful impact on anyone's paycheck. There's no incentive to work harder, especially when you realize that so many of your coworkers would have to change their behavior too.

Make it 10x more and it's definitely a motivator. Not sure where the sweet spot would be. Depends on what you're making, but I'd think at least 3x.

Drop some mgmt. bonuses and then add to this pool. Make sure their pay is based on performance. That'll motivate staff one way or the other
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Old Jan 24, 2014, 11:47 pm
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by OverThereTooMuch
Make it 10x more and it's definitely a motivator. Not sure where the sweet spot would be. Depends on what you're making, but I'd think at least 3x.
You're suggesting that you, and enough people like you, are willing to pay a premium so that these payouts can occur? The amount is the same as at US and, in conjunction with some governance changes, it certainly helped improve helped these metrics about 5 years ago when US was struggling operationally.
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Old Jan 25, 2014, 12:42 am
  #14  
 
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Originally Posted by OverThereTooMuch
There's no incentive to work harder, especially when you realize that so many of your coworkers would have to change their behavior too.
My thinking as well. I know it's a pessimistic attitude on my part but I sense that many AA cabin crew would rather pay (effectively) $150 per month to relax more on the job than to keep that $150 and make a greater effort. Make it $1,500 and I feel the chance of success is greater.

There are plenty of exceptions of course and I appreciate those cabin crew that make a proper effort.
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Old Jan 25, 2014, 5:47 am
  #15  
 
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CO had a programme like this also. Something like $70 each month that CO was in the top 5 out of the 10 largest airlines on US DOT statistics for ontime, bags (not) lost, etc.

Gordon Bethune mentions it in his book (about his time managing CO), "From Worst to First" and considers it contibuted to his success there (it's his idea in his book, so possibly he wouldn't say otherwise).

This sort of smaller (per person) performance bonus can be very effective in helping to motivate the right operational choices by a large staff.
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