SWA or UAL?
04-25-2018, 09:44 AM
#211
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,085
I’m just glad I didn’t make any snarky comments about a 737 only career to SWA guys like that back in the late 90s. That would have given me an entire lost decade to look really stupid. In many ways, nothing has changed. SWA is still the best place to ride out the industry storms.
04-25-2018, 10:04 AM
#213
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Position: B767
Posts: 1,901
04-25-2018, 10:26 AM
#214
Banned
Joined APC: Dec 2009
Position: Narrow/Left Wide/Right
Posts: 3,655
Nope. It's all good "talk" until the corporation is threatened. Then all bets are off. This applies to any company, no matter how nice they were in the past.
Last downturn SWA was fortunate enough to have significant fuel hedges in place which saved the day when fuel spiked and decimated the rest of the industry. Note that SWA had not unilaterally predicted a fuel spike, they were just trying to flatten their expenses for predictable earnings forecasting.
While its better to be lucky than good, had those fuel hedges not been in place the carnage would have been significant and unlike virtually anything SWA had faced in the past.
Last downturn SWA was fortunate enough to have significant fuel hedges in place which saved the day when fuel spiked and decimated the rest of the industry. Note that SWA had not unilaterally predicted a fuel spike, they were just trying to flatten their expenses for predictable earnings forecasting.
While its better to be lucky than good, had those fuel hedges not been in place the carnage would have been significant and unlike virtually anything SWA had faced in the past.
Bottom line SWA never had pensions to deal with and it took till the mid 2000”s for the legacies to realize that to compete on costs they needed to get rid of theirs as well. The only way to do that is in BK court.
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
04-25-2018, 10:32 AM
#215
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: guppy CA
Posts: 5,171
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
04-25-2018, 10:32 AM
#216
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2008
Position: B-777 left
Posts: 1,415
As I recall a lot of those actual hedges were purchased with good ole SWA cash from Delta as they were burning the furniture to heat the house for a period of time until a trip to BK became evident.
Bottom line SWA never had pensions to deal with and it took till the mid 2000”s for the legacies to realize that to compete on costs they needed to get rid of theirs as well. The only way to do that is in BK court.
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
Bottom line SWA never had pensions to deal with and it took till the mid 2000”s for the legacies to realize that to compete on costs they needed to get rid of theirs as well. The only way to do that is in BK court.
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
04-25-2018, 10:49 AM
#217
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2009
Posts: 1,860
God forbid anyone let a pesky pension plan stand in the way of maximizing shareholder value, the race to the bottom continues.
04-25-2018, 11:59 AM
#220
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Posts: 293
As I recall a lot of those actual hedges were purchased with good ole SWA cash from Delta as they were burning the furniture to heat the house for a period of time until a trip to BK became evident.
Bottom line SWA never had pensions to deal with and it took till the mid 2000”s for the legacies to realize that to compete on costs they needed to get rid of theirs as well. The only way to do that is in BK court.
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
Bottom line SWA never had pensions to deal with and it took till the mid 2000”s for the legacies to realize that to compete on costs they needed to get rid of theirs as well. The only way to do that is in BK court.
I was just visiting a state where there are now thousands with state pensions guaranteed for life in the mid 100k”s. Many make more in pension than they earned. Ironically the paper was stating that there is nothing to be done about this as the state cannot go BK so they must raise taxes/starve current services and pay up.
The company had a lot of options. Freeze them, reduce the multiplier, etc. But they chose to ream us. I am an Elephant.
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