AA-Cascading Catastrophic Failure in process (multiple complaints re AA)
Oct 15, 2019, 5:17 pm
#1
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AA-Cascading Catastrophic Failure in process (multiple complaints re AA)
- A cascading failure is a process in a system of interconnected parts in which the failure of one or few parts can trigger the failure of other parts and so on. Such a failure may happen in many types of systems, including power transmission, computer networking, finance, transportation systems, organisms, human body, and ecosystems.
Cascading failure - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_failure1. Every interview with AA senior management about the "Summer of hell" is a version of the blame game. 737Max, Rogue unions, weather, etc. A stark contrast to Delta, United, Southwest, where management seems to be both accountable and responsive.
2. Delta steals LATAM out from underneath AA's nose. LATAM senior management just spent 3 days in Doha with Qatar senior management. Alaska is heading to divorce court. Is a pattern starting to form? What do these professional airline people (away from AA) see long term? Who's next to go? (My guess CX).
3. United has "ConnectionSaver https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/unit...assengers.html AA has D0. (Last night at DFW, coming off a flight delayed one hour, one passenger was told about his connection 15 gates away-"You should probably run".)
4. Oasis-A concept fundimentally flawed and out of touch with the real world, but so in line with management's flawed perceptions.
5. Employee relations-Unlike Delta, and to a rising degree at United, employees are valued, respected, and given the freedom to do the right thing, take care of the customer, focus on customer service. At AA, employees are given no leeway to do right by the customer out of fear. and are slaves to the gods in revenue management, where EVERY decision seems to come from.
6. Sadly, there is possibly a doctoral thesis or NY Times bestseller on how this eventually plays out. Since "The Smartest Guys in the Room" was taken by Enron, perhaps "The Most Out of Touch Management Within Their Industry-2000 to 2025".
You all probably have more failures you would like to add, or may disagree, which is fine. Interested in other ideas.
Oct 15, 2019, 6:33 pm
#5
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I fail to see how any of those failures were connected or triggered by a previous listed failure point which is curious since you seem to have correctly copy/pasted the definition correctly...
Oct 15, 2019, 6:47 pm
#6
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Stepping back for a second and thinking about it, AA is pretty much a train wreck. I now assume the worst and am pleasantly surprised when things run smoothly and on time. It never used to be this way and isn't at other airlines mainly Delta.
Oct 15, 2019, 6:58 pm
#7
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Oct 15, 2019, 7:02 pm
#8
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And I thought it would be about the crazy weather that just passed through and how it was impacting AA's operations. Crazy in the AUS area, have no idea about DFW.
Oct 15, 2019, 7:02 pm
#9
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Interestingly enough, it appears it was AA that chose to end the AA - AS Award relationship, iirc. Mr. Parker’s shoes must be very well ventilated by all the bullet holes he’s put there. And Boards of Directors are usually very conservative and slow to act definitively in these issues.
Oct 15, 2019, 8:05 pm
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- A cascading failure is a process in a system of interconnected parts in which the failure of one or few parts can trigger the failure of other parts and so on. Such a failure may happen in many types of systems, including power transmission, computer networking, finance, transportation systems, organisms, human body, and ecosystems.
Cascading failure - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_failure1. Every interview with AA senior management about the "Summer of hell" is a version of the blame game. 737Max, Rogue unions, weather, etc. A stark contrast to Delta, United, Southwest, where management seems to be both accountable and responsive.
2. Delta steals LATAM out from underneath AA's nose. LATAM senior management just spent 3 days in Doha with Qatar senior management. Alaska is heading to divorce court. Is a pattern starting to form? What do these professional airline people (away from AA) see long term? Who's next to go? (My guess CX).
3. United has "ConnectionSaver https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/unit...assengers.html AA has D0. (Last night at DFW, coming off a flight delayed one hour, one passenger was told about his connection 15 gates away-"You should probably run".)
4. Oasis-A concept fundimentally flawed and out of touch with the real world, but so in line with management's flawed perceptions.
5. Employee relations-Unlike Delta, and to a rising degree at United, employees are valued, respected, and given the freedom to do the right thing, take care of the customer, focus on customer service. At AA, employees are given no leeway to do right by the customer out of fear. and are slaves to the gods in revenue management, where EVERY decision seems to come from.
6. Sadly, there is possibly a doctoral thesis or NY Times bestseller on how this eventually plays out. Since "The Smartest Guys in the Room" was taken by Enron, perhaps "The Most Out of Touch Management Within Their Industry-2000 to 2025".
You all probably have more failures you would like to add, or may disagree, which is fine. Interested in other ideas.
AA was a tragedy the moment it was taken over by USAir and Doug.
Yes, the first loss was the pmAA soft product. Then it became the on time performance. Then customer service. Then AAdvantage...
... and then a few dozen bullet points later we now have AA severing its partnership with AS and LA being swiped out under the nose of the same inept management team. So yes, AA sucks, it couldn't care less about customer or employee relations, it's losing partners left and right, AAdvantage is a shell of what it once was, and even the plane AA forced Boeing's hand to produce is a dramatic failure and has been grounded for months. As you state, even an airline like United has been able to innovate its way ahead of AA. So yes, I don't disagree, AA has been pretty much a complete failure now for half a decade, which is why I've flown with them two times in the last 18 months. There are a number of better options so the best advice I can offer is to use them.