AIP 2.0
08-17-2023, 08:57 AM
#423
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2021
Posts: 1,157
Isom has been emphasizing debt reduction which helps create better profit margins. Isom is not afraid to spend money to make money. That’s been Delta’s recipe for success as well. I thought Parker was a terrible leader. He was the very definition of a “bean counter” or “numbers guy”. Always trying to save a dollar and losing millions in profits over that single saved dollar. That guy was so washed up and Delta ran laps around AA when doug was running the show. I think the problem with Parker was his mindset was unchanged from his America West days.
08-17-2023, 10:36 AM
#425
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,223
Well to be fair they have the newest fleet (investments have already been deducted) and the debt is starting to be paid down in bulk at AA.
Isom has been emphasizing debt reduction which helps create better profit margins. Isom is not afraid to spend money to make money. That’s been Delta’s recipe for success as well. I thought Parker was a terrible leader. He was the very definition of a “bean counter” or “numbers guy”. Always trying to save a dollar and losing millions in profits over that single saved dollar. That guy was so washed up and Delta ran laps around AA when doug was running the show. I think the problem with Parker was his mindset was unchanged from his America West days.
Isom has been emphasizing debt reduction which helps create better profit margins. Isom is not afraid to spend money to make money. That’s been Delta’s recipe for success as well. I thought Parker was a terrible leader. He was the very definition of a “bean counter” or “numbers guy”. Always trying to save a dollar and losing millions in profits over that single saved dollar. That guy was so washed up and Delta ran laps around AA when doug was running the show. I think the problem with Parker was his mindset was unchanged from his America West days.
During the mid 2010's Dough spoke at our annual manager's symposium about pushing middle management to spend money. AA management (who made up the bulk of the middle managers at the combined carrier) had been so conditioned for decades to never spend any more than they needed that when it came time to actually do so, they didn't really know how.
I noticed after that meeting some really, really expensive paper in our printers
. They didn't even know what to spend money on, just that now they were being judged on spending it. Dough never believed in product, and he never got out on the line to see how things ran. He was, for all intents and purposes, an armchair CEO. His technique was delegation, not leadership. He was a financial wizard, but you can only run on financing so long. Of note, he was 39 when taking over America West, just prior to 9/11.Isom is an ops guy. He's always been an ops guy. He's also smart af, an intellectual. Airlines need to be run by smart ops people, because if the operation doesn't run well, everything else means jack ****. A couple months ago I pulled into a gate in CLT and there was David Seymour along with our CLT hub manager and their minions watching us chock in. I went out and talked to them. They were there watching the operation and studying it. Clipboards abounded. Honestly, I was impressed. I have never, in my 20 years working for the airlines, seen senior management out on the line with workers watching the operation.
I've been pessimistic about the long term impacts of AI etc on our profession but have never been this optimistic about the future of AA. Perhaps that's a bad omen? I don't know. But I like what I see (most days). Talking to FOs, it seems most CAs lean towards being very pessimistic about AA, so the cycle continues amongst our group.
08-17-2023, 11:28 AM
#426
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,951
I don't think anyone thinks we will out compete Delta. But other carriers, maybe.
During the mid 2010's Dough spoke at our annual manager's symposium about pushing middle management to spend money. AA management (who made up the bulk of the middle managers at the combined carrier) had been so conditioned for decades to never spend any more than they needed that when it came time to actually do so, they didn't really know how.
I noticed after that meeting some really, really expensive paper in our printers. They didn't even know what to spend money on, just that now they were being judged on spending it. Dough never believed in product, and he never got out on the line to see how things ran. He was, for all intents and purposes, an armchair CEO. His technique was delegation, not leadership. He was a financial wizard, but you can only run on financing so long. Of note, he was 39 when taking over America West, just prior to 9/11.
Isom is an ops guy. He's always been an ops guy. He's also smart af, an intellectual. Airlines need to be run by smart ops people, because if the operation doesn't run well, everything else means jack ****. A couple months ago I pulled into a gate in CLT and there was David Seymour along with our CLT hub manager and their minions watching us chock in. I went out and talked to them. They were there watching the operation and studying it. Clipboards abounded. Honestly, I was impressed. I have never, in my 20 years working for the airlines, seen senior management out on the line with workers watching the operation.
I've been pessimistic about the long term impacts of AI etc on our profession but have never been this optimistic about the future of AA. Perhaps that's a bad omen? I don't know. But I like what I see (most days). Talking to FOs, it seems most CAs lean towards being very pessimistic about AA, so the cycle continues amongst our group.
During the mid 2010's Dough spoke at our annual manager's symposium about pushing middle management to spend money. AA management (who made up the bulk of the middle managers at the combined carrier) had been so conditioned for decades to never spend any more than they needed that when it came time to actually do so, they didn't really know how.
I noticed after that meeting some really, really expensive paper in our printers
. They didn't even know what to spend money on, just that now they were being judged on spending it. Dough never believed in product, and he never got out on the line to see how things ran. He was, for all intents and purposes, an armchair CEO. His technique was delegation, not leadership. He was a financial wizard, but you can only run on financing so long. Of note, he was 39 when taking over America West, just prior to 9/11.Isom is an ops guy. He's always been an ops guy. He's also smart af, an intellectual. Airlines need to be run by smart ops people, because if the operation doesn't run well, everything else means jack ****. A couple months ago I pulled into a gate in CLT and there was David Seymour along with our CLT hub manager and their minions watching us chock in. I went out and talked to them. They were there watching the operation and studying it. Clipboards abounded. Honestly, I was impressed. I have never, in my 20 years working for the airlines, seen senior management out on the line with workers watching the operation.
I've been pessimistic about the long term impacts of AI etc on our profession but have never been this optimistic about the future of AA. Perhaps that's a bad omen? I don't know. But I like what I see (most days). Talking to FOs, it seems most CAs lean towards being very pessimistic about AA, so the cycle continues amongst our group.
08-17-2023, 12:03 PM
#427
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2021
Position: A320 FO
Posts: 655
08-17-2023, 12:42 PM
#428
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,951
I think the joke is AA will look overly conservative (obsession with low debt like Ramsey) compared to a big spender like United
08-17-2023, 01:39 PM
#429
Banned
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Position: Pilot
Posts: 2,625
Just pointing out that yes, AA is in a lot of debt, but paying it off quickly and United is about to be in debt up to their eyeballs.
08-17-2023, 02:19 PM
#430
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2012
Posts: 373
I don't think anyone thinks we will out compete Delta. But other carriers, maybe.
During the mid 2010's Dough spoke at our annual manager's symposium about pushing middle management to spend money. AA management (who made up the bulk of the middle managers at the combined carrier) had been so conditioned for decades to never spend any more than they needed that when it came time to actually do so, they didn't really know how.
I noticed after that meeting some really, really expensive paper in our printers. They didn't even know what to spend money on, just that now they were being judged on spending it. Dough never believed in product, and he never got out on the line to see how things ran. He was, for all intents and purposes, an armchair CEO. His technique was delegation, not leadership. He was a financial wizard, but you can only run on financing so long. Of note, he was 39 when taking over America West, just prior to 9/11.
Isom is an ops guy. He's always been an ops guy. He's also smart af, an intellectual. Airlines need to be run by smart ops people, because if the operation doesn't run well, everything else means jack ****. A couple months ago I pulled into a gate in CLT and there was David Seymour along with our CLT hub manager and their minions watching us chock in. I went out and talked to them. They were there watching the operation and studying it. Clipboards abounded. Honestly, I was impressed. I have never, in my 20 years working for the airlines, seen senior management out on the line with workers watching the operation.
I've been pessimistic about the long term impacts of AI etc on our profession but have never been this optimistic about the future of AA. Perhaps that's a bad omen? I don't know. But I like what I see (most days). Talking to FOs, it seems most CAs lean towards being very pessimistic about AA, so the cycle continues amongst our group.
During the mid 2010's Dough spoke at our annual manager's symposium about pushing middle management to spend money. AA management (who made up the bulk of the middle managers at the combined carrier) had been so conditioned for decades to never spend any more than they needed that when it came time to actually do so, they didn't really know how.
I noticed after that meeting some really, really expensive paper in our printers
. They didn't even know what to spend money on, just that now they were being judged on spending it. Dough never believed in product, and he never got out on the line to see how things ran. He was, for all intents and purposes, an armchair CEO. His technique was delegation, not leadership. He was a financial wizard, but you can only run on financing so long. Of note, he was 39 when taking over America West, just prior to 9/11.Isom is an ops guy. He's always been an ops guy. He's also smart af, an intellectual. Airlines need to be run by smart ops people, because if the operation doesn't run well, everything else means jack ****. A couple months ago I pulled into a gate in CLT and there was David Seymour along with our CLT hub manager and their minions watching us chock in. I went out and talked to them. They were there watching the operation and studying it. Clipboards abounded. Honestly, I was impressed. I have never, in my 20 years working for the airlines, seen senior management out on the line with workers watching the operation.
I've been pessimistic about the long term impacts of AI etc on our profession but have never been this optimistic about the future of AA. Perhaps that's a bad omen? I don't know. But I like what I see (most days). Talking to FOs, it seems most CAs lean towards being very pessimistic about AA, so the cycle continues amongst our group.
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