Suzanne Rubin to resign as head of AAdvantage
May 14, 2016, 7:42 pm
#76
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Posts: 9,916
He was at AA before DL and had mentioned about not being opposed to a return to AA; but he ended up this year becoming a marketing dude for the California Blue Shield health insurance company. Moving out west and working for them must not have been a good fit for him if he were to jump ship so quickly after joining up there; that or he's been again looking to jump back on a ship from which he had jumped off previously.
May 15, 2016, 5:25 am
#79
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Does he really want to relocate (or is he, along with his wife, now even more connected to Texas than to Colorado?) at this point and exit his current game to end up where the legacy major airline FFPs began?
He seems to have become a sort of fan of revenue-based FFPs; so, with that and other things going on, such an assignment would not help AA FFP customers in the main. Sort of ironic given how much this forum -- founded by him -- has helped airline FFP customers.
He hasn't entirely been an airline lifer, a point I've made when saying Jeff Robertson of Delta SkyMiles infamy shares a lot in common with Jeff Skilling of Enron infamy.
He seems to have become a sort of fan of revenue-based FFPs; so, with that and other things going on, such an assignment would not help AA FFP customers in the main. Sort of ironic given how much this forum -- founded by him -- has helped airline FFP customers.
Could be if it's true. Going from 20 + years in DFW/ATL to a high cost of living market like SFO a very different industry and a different type of marketing is basically a huge transition. For an airline lifer, who suddenly gets a call, President of AAdvantage is probably at least as prestigious as CMO of California Blue Shield, so maybe a combination of a 'dream' job and a more comfortable scenario.
Last edited by GUWonder; May 15, 2016 at 5:37 am
May 15, 2016, 6:11 am
#80
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Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
What one needs to realize that is a Marketing Director type of jobs now goes to technocrats that sit and crunch data all day. The creative side of marketing has long been gone. I'm not sure how much of a technocrat Randy Petersen is. Yes he might have tons of FF experience but he also needs to know a shopping list of software packages. Like it or not AA will fashion AAdvantage based upon tons of data, which might or might not be very reliable, and by what the competition is doing.
May 15, 2016, 6:56 am
#81
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: BOS/BTV
Programs: Delta Plat, former AA EXP, AS Gold, SPG Gold, IHG Plat.
Posts: 659
My opinion: the departure of any pre-merger AA executive is likely to be a negative for the FF community. Though I never met Suzanne Rubin, her accessibility, and her public statements, seemed to indicate that she understood the benefits of a generous AAdvantage program for maintaining customer loyalty. Others are correct I think that market forces and current industry trends are more responsible for changes to the AAdvantage program than any one person (excepting perhaps DP....)
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
May 15, 2016, 7:01 am
#82
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My opinion: the departure of any pre-merger AA executive is likely to be a negative for the FF community. Though I never met Suzanne Rubin, her accessibility, and her public statements, seemed to indicate that she understood the benefits of a generous AAdvantage program for maintaining customer loyalty. Others are correct I think that market forces and current industry trends are more responsible for changes to the AAdvantage program than any one person (excepting perhaps DP....)
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
May 15, 2016, 10:44 am
#83
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
My opinion: the departure of any pre-merger AA executive is likely to be a negative for the FF community. Though I never met Suzanne Rubin, her accessibility, and her public statements, seemed to indicate that she understood the benefits of a generous AAdvantage program for maintaining customer loyalty. Others are correct I think that market forces and current industry trends are more responsible for changes to the AAdvantage program than any one person (excepting perhaps DP....)
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
The new AA seems to be intent on following the other legacy carriers in shifting to more of a stockholder focus, than a customer focus. Arguably, employees may be another constituency losing both power and benefits as airlines align themselves with corporate strategies found elsewhere.
My personal, albeit limited, experience, is that legacy-AA staffers brought a level of professionalism and customer focus that is not found to the same degree elsewhere in the industry. Unfortunately, legacy-US personnel do not seem to quite match that commitment. Arguably neither does the current (largely pre-merger US) management team.
Suzanne Rubin's departure is thus a net loss for the customer. She seems to have been doing an excellent job maintaining program value in a competitive marketplace. Perhaps as proof of her sensibilities, the recent changes that came to AAdvantage were less severe than many had anticipated, with a number of initiatives to ease the transition...
And I suspect her successor will more likely reflect the profit-first values of the new AA. Stockholders and Wall Street may be pleased with the changes coming, AAdvantage members maybe not so much....
May 15, 2016, 12:22 pm
#84
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SEA
Programs: UA SP, DL SM MM, AS 75K, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond.
Posts: 2,596
As United is slowing understanding, there are many ways to profit-first. The pursuit of cost savings at the expense of customer experience is a short-term bottom-line enhancement. Wall Street rallies around the stock...until the bottom falls out of the strategy. Mimicking the strategy of one brand never produces the same results. The more AA pursues the "me-too" strategy, the harder it will be for it to generate revenue, the only option to boost the bottom-line becomes cut costs, and the vicious cycle begins.
AA had an incredible opportunity to stand out, be something different from Delta, offer a different experience, and attract a set of loyal fliers that appreciated those differences. UA had a similar opportunity at the beginning of it's merger with CO as well. UA could have focused on network advantages, business contracts, and synergies with partners, left its FF program its own and continued to provide outstanding IRROPS. Instead, they copied DL, but didn't have the operations mettle to copy what DL had in customer experience.
AA could have been continued to be the alternative, with some obvious changes to reward those contributing more to revenue than those who contribute less. There dozens of ways to do this, you don't need to copy what DL did (it didn't workout all that well for UA).
As much as Pepsi wanted to be the big dog in the Cola wars, they understood that copying Coke's taste wouldn't do it. They pursued another strategy, and in the past 5-years have earned their stockholders a 15% greater return.
Likewise, when Toyota came up with Lexus their mission wasn't to out BMW, BMW or out Mercedes, Mercedes. They offered something different and unique; another interpretation of luxury...a similar strategy Hyundai is taking with it's luxury division now as well.
There are more examples of failed copycat attempts: Infiniti couldn't be BMW. Samsung was successful with phones until they cloned the iPhone.
AA had an incredible opportunity to stand out, be something different from Delta, offer a different experience, and attract a set of loyal fliers that appreciated those differences. UA had a similar opportunity at the beginning of it's merger with CO as well. UA could have focused on network advantages, business contracts, and synergies with partners, left its FF program its own and continued to provide outstanding IRROPS. Instead, they copied DL, but didn't have the operations mettle to copy what DL had in customer experience.
AA could have been continued to be the alternative, with some obvious changes to reward those contributing more to revenue than those who contribute less. There dozens of ways to do this, you don't need to copy what DL did (it didn't workout all that well for UA).
As much as Pepsi wanted to be the big dog in the Cola wars, they understood that copying Coke's taste wouldn't do it. They pursued another strategy, and in the past 5-years have earned their stockholders a 15% greater return.
Likewise, when Toyota came up with Lexus their mission wasn't to out BMW, BMW or out Mercedes, Mercedes. They offered something different and unique; another interpretation of luxury...a similar strategy Hyundai is taking with it's luxury division now as well.
There are more examples of failed copycat attempts: Infiniti couldn't be BMW. Samsung was successful with phones until they cloned the iPhone.
Last edited by transportbiz; May 15, 2016 at 12:33 pm
May 15, 2016, 4:44 pm
#86
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
May 15, 2016, 11:19 pm
#88
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: WN, AA, UA, DL
Posts: 1,313
May 16, 2016, 4:50 am
#89
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Again, that's a matter of opinion. I'm nowhere near an "uber elite HVF," but AA easily has the best of the four programs for me, and the mileage earning will have essentially no effect on that.
May 16, 2016, 5:02 am
#90
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
We live in a business world where everything needs to prove out on spreadsheets. So a generous AAdvantage program in terms of elite benefits must prove a certain level of additional margin. Parker is a Wall Street numbers guy. He ripped the IFE out of LUS a/c because it couldn't prove its "financial worth." There is no reason to think that Parker and whoever he hires to do the job will be any different.
