Tag Archives for us airways.
When US Airways Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River in January 2009, Captain Sully Sullenberger became a national hero for saving 155 lives. What’s never been told publicly until now, according to former CEO Doug Parker, is that the “Miracle on the Hudson” may also have saved the airline itself.
Parker offered that when he was acquiring US Airways as CEO of America West, David Bonderman no longer had a financial interest in the Arizona-based airline. However he called Parker three or four times, and urged him to name the combined airline America West rather than US Airways. And Parker concedes Bonderman was right.
I simply assumed that the ‘US’ name was chosen to give the carrier a more national brand. But it may have had a much more practical explanation, according to a story that long-time airline CEO Ed Colodny would tell new hires when they onboarded.
A Harvard Business School case study of the US Airways-American Airlines merger declares it a success and cites the brilliance of CEO Doug Parker.
The airline “assigned [its] vice president of customer service to be his personal liaison” and Gitomer asked that VP for a consulting job. Chiames said, though, that it was his “verbal abuse of our employees.. [which] have left employees in tears” that led to the banning.
Gitomer, for his part, “described himself as a demanding, but not abusive, customer. He remembered only one time that he made an employee cry, several years ago.”
Did you know that eight years into the American Airlines-US Airways merger, not all work groups were on a single system, and the merger wasn’t ‘complete’?
American was one airline to passengers long before it was a single airline to employees. The airline’s systems for tracking aircraft maintenance were still separate – until last week.
We thought US airlines were done complaining about competition when Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar settled complaints this year. But American is back at it — now complaining about a European airline that’s part-owned by a Gulf carrier.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker is worried about airline jobs when airline employment is at a peak and when his own flight attendants and mechanics unions are furious at him. Although it’s a well-worn strategy to blame foreigners as a distraction for problems at home. It’s even more ironic though because he did this in a speech where he also talked about inclusion.
USAirways says it needs $250 million to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which strikes me as too low. Air Wisconsin has proposed investing $125 million. Air Wisconsin operates primarily as a regional feeder for United. USAirways has been extremely successful reducing its labor costs, but it remains unclear how their business model can return them to profitability. Still, any indication of interest in providing exit financing is a strong positive sign for the airline. Meanwhile, Independence Air says that it has successfully renegotiated its aircraft leases. After almost four months of negotiations, Flyi said it will be allowed to terminate leases on 24 of its regional jets — about one-third of its fleet. Those concessions will help cut its aircraft lease payments by $94.5 million over the next two years. Creditors are also allowing the…
Back in November I explained why mileage award prices will go up, now and in the future, because there are simply too many miles chasing too few seats. This new piece (originally in the Boston Globe and then syndicated) outlines the current state of the phenomenon. Frequent-flier miles are easier to come by as airlines sell more miles to partners like credit card companies and hotels, but they’re harder than ever to redeem. Behind-the-scenes deals with corporate partners are helping cash-strapped airlines rake in millions of dollars at a time when high fuel costs and lower fares are killing their bottom lines. At the same time, these deals give companies that buy miles a sought-after incentive to offer their customers. But frequent-flier club members shouldn’t think all the freebie miles they’ve racked up will add…
Via USA Today‘s Today in the Sky are two stories that show airline executives making statements that just aren’t credible. Scratch that. The executives are doing verbal backflips and come off looking silly. USAirways is closing four airport lounges. Why? Because it’s “a key element of our Transformation Plan to offer our customers the full service associated with the Club network” … Since clubs are important, we’re closing them! Huh? The truthful answer is “clubs are important, they’re part of our plan to make money, but we can’t spend too much money on them or we’ll lose money.” But that would be too straightforward. Meanwhile, Delta is verbally contorting itself over service to Beijing. Since a new route to China is something to be doled out by the government, and the justification for a decision…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
