How does Parker still have a job?
Jul 8, 2019, 10:13 pm
#46
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: FL400
Programs: AA 5MM EXP, UA 2MM 1K, HH LT DIA, MR Plat, NRAC EEV, AMEX Plat
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With 3 DUIs maybe the question should be how is he not in jail? I understand people have personal demons and addiction is a bear, but this shows such demostrably poor personal judgement that I'd be shocked if he doesn't at least have some kind of behavior or morality clause in his contract.
I can't imagine Arpey throwing back a pony keg and then thinking it's appropriate to drive afterwards. One thing that really stuck with me from the CNBC hour long special was that Arpey knew how to behave with class and understood that perception mattered.
I can't imagine Arpey throwing back a pony keg and then thinking it's appropriate to drive afterwards. One thing that really stuck with me from the CNBC hour long special was that Arpey knew how to behave with class and understood that perception mattered.
Jul 9, 2019, 11:42 am
#47
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 44
Parker would clearly be fired for the AA operational meltdown if he were a low level employee. But is not the practice of the AA board to hold leadership accountable. He will probably get a big bonus. And when the board is forced to dismiss him, he will leave with a huge golden parachute.
Jul 9, 2019, 11:54 am
#48
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So shareholders are seeing and reacting negatively to all of these things, and yet they stick with him.
Though I agree that the concept of mom and pop 300-share shareholders speaking out and replacing a CEO is laughable. You need huge pension funds to take note, and then the board to actually do something.
Jul 9, 2019, 12:03 pm
#49
Join Date: Mar 2005
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How accurate is this source?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
- Allegiant — 20.2% (91.1 million divided by 451.6 million)
- Spirit — 10.3% (87.8 million divided by 855.8 million)
- Southwest — 9.8% (505 million divided by 5.1 billion)
- Delta — 9.7% (1.02 billion divided by 10.472 billion)
- Hawaiian — 8% (52.676 million divided by 656.751 million)
- United — 5.2% (495 million divided by 9.589 billion)
- JetBlue — 4.1% (76 million divided by 1.871 billion)
- American — 3.5% (375 million divided by 10.584 billion)
- Alaska — 1.3% (25 million divided by 1.876 billion)
- Passenger revenue was 14.49 cents per available seat mile, while total cost was 15.31 cents per available seat mile.
- That’s $7.02 billion in passenger revenue. Add in $218 million in cargo revenue, for $7.24 billion in ‘flying revenue’ against $7.42 billion in expense. That’s a $180 million loss for the quarter.
- However the airline reported a $245 million pre-tax profit thanks to selling miles to banks. For the quarter their “[o]ther revenue was up 1.9% to $708 million due primarily to higher loyalty revenue.”
Jul 9, 2019, 12:21 pm
#50
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SNA
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Posts: 9,239
How accurate is this source?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
- Allegiant — 20.2% (91.1 million divided by 451.6 million)
- Spirit — 10.3% (87.8 million divided by 855.8 million)
- Southwest — 9.8% (505 million divided by 5.1 billion)
- Delta — 9.7% (1.02 billion divided by 10.472 billion)
- Hawaiian — 8% (52.676 million divided by 656.751 million)
- United — 5.2% (495 million divided by 9.589 billion)
- JetBlue — 4.1% (76 million divided by 1.871 billion)
- American — 3.5% (375 million divided by 10.584 billion)
- Alaska — 1.3% (25 million divided by 1.876 billion)
- Passenger revenue was 14.49 cents per available seat mile, while total cost was 15.31 cents per available seat mile.
- That’s $7.02 billion in passenger revenue. Add in $218 million in cargo revenue, for $7.24 billion in ‘flying revenue’ against $7.42 billion in expense. That’s a $180 million loss for the quarter.
- However the airline reported a $245 million pre-tax profit thanks to selling miles to banks. For the quarter their “[o]ther revenue was up 1.9% to $708 million due primarily to higher loyalty revenue.”
Another thing to consider is when, not if, the next economic slowdown occurs AA is terribly positioned financially to weather even a short recession. Not only are they incapable of generating an operating profit on the activity they purport to provide (flying) during economic expansion, the only revenue stream that's keeping them afloat will dry up as credit tightens during a contraction. If their already poor performance from passengers gets worse combined with a drop in CC fees plus for fun throw in their current labor issues which will likely result in higher fixed labor costs and you have a pretty bleak outlook.
Last edited by ryan182; Jul 9, 2019 at 12:52 pm
Jul 9, 2019, 12:38 pm
#51
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
How accurate is this source?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
https://onemileatatime.com/how-did-u...arter-of-2019/
How do the operating margins for the major US airlines compare (operating income divided by operating revenue)?
- Allegiant — 20.2% (91.1 million divided by 451.6 million)
- Spirit — 10.3% (87.8 million divided by 855.8 million)
- Southwest — 9.8% (505 million divided by 5.1 billion)
- Delta — 9.7% (1.02 billion divided by 10.472 billion)
- Hawaiian — 8% (52.676 million divided by 656.751 million)
- United — 5.2% (495 million divided by 9.589 billion)
- JetBlue — 4.1% (76 million divided by 1.871 billion)
- American — 3.5% (375 million divided by 10.584 billion)
- Alaska — 1.3% (25 million divided by 1.876 billion)
- Passenger revenue was 14.49 cents per available seat mile, while total cost was 15.31 cents per available seat mile. AA's nea
- That’s $7.02 billion in passenger revenue. Add in $218 million in cargo revenue, for $7.24 billion in ‘flying revenue’ against $7.42 billion in expense. That’s a $180 million loss for the quarter.
- However the airline reported a $245 million pre-tax profit thanks to selling miles to banks. For the quarter their “[o]ther revenue was up 1.9% to $708 million due primarily to higher loyalty revenue.”
Jul 9, 2019, 2:28 pm
#52
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Prisoner of EWR
Programs: Lifetime AA Plat, UA status-less after 15 years
Posts: 149
If you look at EVERY forum on Flyertalk, there is a thread just like this. Hating on the CEO, how horrible the company is, how bad the soft/hard product is, how the FF program is devalued, how does the CEO still have a job, how bad the management is, how bad the food is, etc, etc.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
Jul 9, 2019, 2:49 pm
#53
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
If you look at EVERY forum on Flyertalk, there is a thread just like this. Hating on the CEO, how horrible the company is, how bad the soft/hard product is, how the FF program is devalued, how does the CEO still have a job, how bad the management is, how bad the food is, etc, etc.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
Delays and irregular operations are a cost of business for every airline. The central point is what is airline management proactively doing to hold the line on these costs. From these numbers DL is clearly doing some right, which as a side benefit helps passengers, and AA not so much, which adversely impacts passengers.
Jul 9, 2019, 2:53 pm
#54
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,236
If you look at EVERY forum on Flyertalk, there is a thread just like this. Hating on the CEO, how horrible the company is, how bad the soft/hard product is, how the FF program is devalued, how does the CEO still have a job, how bad the management is, how bad the food is, etc, etc.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
In my view, and having lived through Crandall, Carty, Arpey, Horton and now Parker, it seems to me that things are actually decent operationally. Crandall was amazing, Carty made everyone sad, Arpey was an honorable guy but waited too long to bankrupt the company and was generally hands off, and Horton was a caretaker who could only merge and didn't seem to have the stomach for operational details, but Parker is a airline guy and seems to be doing what needs to be done.
Is there a handbook written someplace that tells people how to run a giant airline? Nope, there isn't. No one knows what to do every day at a company this large, with this many employees scattered about the world, taking care of 200 MILLION customers every year, managing almost 1000 aircraft, still digesting the worst of all merger types, an airline merger.
After actually flying 3 Million miles on AA over the past 30 years, 1 million on CO/UA, and another million across many other airlines, I cannot find a single airline that's radically better or worse than any other one. And everyone one of these hate threads amuses me.
Jul 9, 2019, 5:35 pm
#55
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: DFW
Posts: 270
Yet you are still here and still flying AA. Your vote here counts for nothing. Your wallets vote may or may not count for slightly more.
Jul 9, 2019, 5:45 pm
#56
Join Date: May 2001
Location: PHL
Programs: AA CK, DL GM, Bonvoy Ambassador, HH DIA
Posts: 187
Many of us are hub captive. I fly AA bc I don't have much choice, I fly DL occasionally, and they're a little bit better at everything. I can defend AA's focus on FF revenue vs mileage, and all of the other elite program things that annoy most of us on these boards, however the operational component falling down, and getting killed by Delta financially is a lot harder to except, and I'm surprised organizational investors are more pissed off about it.
Jul 9, 2019, 6:11 pm
#57
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,236
what I do is not relevant to AA's profitability metrics materially. I'm more questioning why shareholders are ok with the financial underperformance.
Jul 9, 2019, 6:11 pm
#58
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AA EXP; 1W Emerald; HHonors Diamond; Marriott Gold; UA dirt
Posts: 7,816
Many of us are hub captive. I fly AA bc I don't have much choice, I fly DL occasionally, and they're a little bit better at everything. I can defend AA's focus on FF revenue vs mileage, and all of the other elite program things that annoy most of us on these boards, however the operational component falling down, and getting killed by Delta financially is a lot harder to except, and I'm surprised organizational investors are more pissed off about it.
Jul 9, 2019, 7:28 pm
#59
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW-In Plano & CDG-In the 11th
Programs: DL Diamond, AA revenue negative, Bonvoy Titanium +, Avis likes me
Posts: 3,209
I am no fan of Mr. Parker, nor now as AAgnostic, neither am I a dispariger.
A couple of points.
1. I'm a sales guy. But if the accountant types show me (based on operating margins) that the evil empire is killing me by 6 and 3 times, and 3 times by our "nearest"competitor, all with essentially the same product, I would ask:
a. Why
b. How (long) has this been going on?
c. When did (someone) notice
d. What are we doing to fix this?
e. Who CAN fix this?
2. IMHO-In sports it's the coach that gets fired. When in reality, its the players who are failing.
3. Mr Parker and his team, have committed to this path. They have bet on Red. We, on the outside mourn. We mourn because we are watching a train wreck in progress, and we can see a way out, yet sit powerless as we are forced to watch (participate).
4. As someone intimately involved with substance abuse, I'm calling out all you cowards who disparage Mr. Parker from the safety of the anonymity of your keyboard about his alcohol issues. You are nothing more than cheapshot artists. Shame on you! What happened to your compassion? Sense of fair play? In my experience, it's the hand up, and NOT the hand across the jaw that aids in recovery. Everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves the right to recovery without ridicule. ����
5. If I were the new CEO, I would buy out the seniors, whose attitude and work ethic are the root of the problem, and embark on a program of weeding them out, and hiring people who actually want to work and do a good job.
A couple of points.
1. I'm a sales guy. But if the accountant types show me (based on operating margins) that the evil empire is killing me by 6 and 3 times, and 3 times by our "nearest"competitor, all with essentially the same product, I would ask:
a. Why
b. How (long) has this been going on?
c. When did (someone) notice
d. What are we doing to fix this?
e. Who CAN fix this?
2. IMHO-In sports it's the coach that gets fired. When in reality, its the players who are failing.
3. Mr Parker and his team, have committed to this path. They have bet on Red. We, on the outside mourn. We mourn because we are watching a train wreck in progress, and we can see a way out, yet sit powerless as we are forced to watch (participate).
4. As someone intimately involved with substance abuse, I'm calling out all you cowards who disparage Mr. Parker from the safety of the anonymity of your keyboard about his alcohol issues. You are nothing more than cheapshot artists. Shame on you! What happened to your compassion? Sense of fair play? In my experience, it's the hand up, and NOT the hand across the jaw that aids in recovery. Everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves the right to recovery without ridicule. ����
5. If I were the new CEO, I would buy out the seniors, whose attitude and work ethic are the root of the problem, and embark on a program of weeding them out, and hiring people who actually want to work and do a good job.
Last edited by Dallas49er; Jul 10, 2019 at 6:58 am
Jul 9, 2019, 9:28 pm
#60
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As for me, would you AA flyers rather have Scott Kirby at the helm?
or you happy he landed over at United? All I can say is I'm happy to have not been on an AA flight in over a year, and my UA flying is down to 4 segments so far in 2019. #teamdelta