Clean Up on Aisle "United"

Date: November 22, 2013
Source: AFA Article

In the latest in a growing and already alarmingly long list of failures, shortcomings and underperformance, United CEO Jeff Smisek is out on the town giving speeches this week traveling to the Investors Day Presentation, CEO Exchange in Washington D.C. and New York Stock Exchange.  He's doing that, because that's what he's good at.  He's a talker, he's got the slick veneer, the cool guy image that he's in charge and trust is his faithful sidekick.  United’s CEO is particularly good in two specific areas of talk: promises and excuses.

Speaking of excuses first, nothing is ever the fault of Smisek, management or the company.  According to them the market is to blame for poor revenue results, the market didn't respond to the "right aircraft" and the Unions are all to blame for slowing down negotiations.  Pesky Unions, wanting a Contract that protects us instead of allowing an "FAIM like" book of guidelines that will be "administered" by management.  Just stop and think for a second, in matter of pay, discipline, benefits, travel, scheduling – has management "had your back" enough that you are willing to put your faith and your future into their (greedy) hands?  That's the outcome management is negotiating towards – less rules, more flexibility (for them), competitive benefits vs. industry leading, and productivity vs job security. 

The other area where the United CEO really shines is in promising all sorts of things.  Unfortunately, he's terrible at delivering on virtually all of them.  It's taken almost three years time, but finally the investors, the analysts, the public; everyone is seeing that he talks a good game, but he utterly fails to make good on his promise and deliver a positive result.

Consider the promises made when the merger was announced.  Where are the synergies? Where are the Joint Contracts? Where are the stronger, better more successful airline? United ranks at the bottom of virtually every list in satisfaction and performance.  Smisek will give you excuses why it's not his or the airlines fault, but here we are on the bottom.  The employees aren't happy, Flight Attendants, mechanics and dispatchers all in various stages of stalled or failed negotiations, the blame for which they attribute to us.  Or like the pilots who are struggling through implementation of new Contracts that were years in the making and days in the first "reinterpretations" by the company.  Is it really credible that it's all the Unions, all of us, and not management?

The truth is, 3 years down the road, we're two separate airlines, both arguably less successful, less happy and without any end in sight.  Contrast Smisek’s promises in 2010 with the reality of where he has taken United’s merger as of today.

• United Airlines is smaller, our airline is shrinking
• Management has cut costs and cut costs and continue to cut costs with no end in sight
• Management has fueled acrimony and divisiveness among employees to gain leverage and advantage over us
• United’s negotiations tactics are to complicate, delay and drag out negotiations as long as possible to create frustration, so that their employees become so tired of the process, they blame the Union and become willing to settle for less.
• United continues to find the cheapest way to do everything, not hesitating to cut quality or compromise their standards in their effort to drive down the new airline to rock bottom
• Management decides to outsource as much as they can, while at the same time reducing staffing, eliminating amenities and raising prices. 

You can't create a successful airline based on cutting, reducing and eliminating.  A successful United can only be achieved by investing in the employees through Joint Contracts, negotiated to raise the standard of our jobs and airline so we can be equipped with what we need to be the positive and successful front line face of United Airlines.  A successful United must not evolve from cutting costs; success comes from growth, investment and enriching the lives of the investors, passengers and employees. 

In thinking about how this ugly truth feels to you, look back over the past 3 years and look at the decisions management has made.  Are they supportive of you, of our airline, of the passengers or investors?  The most recent media article on United's ugly inside unfortunately involves the gross negligence and mistreatment of an animal.  Read the story of what happened, and then consider United's response to this incident. Their first response was not an apology and immediately doing whatever was necessary to make the situation better.  NO, their first response was to condition paying for a vet bill only if the passenger signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). 

That's the heart of the matter.  The internal workings of our airline are ugly.  Very ugly.  United doesn't want anyone to see that.  Rather than do what's right and be responsible, they want to cover up an incident with a NDA. Remember the fines they received for tarmac delays, they prefer to brush it under the rug so their reputation doesn't further deteriorate.  And rather than stepping up and saying they've made bad decisions and turning our airline around, they blame us and the world around them for why they can't keep their promises.

Our message to management: You've tried virtually everything else and it hasn't worked.  How about instead, doing what you originally said you were going to do.  Get Joint Contracts negotiated ASAP.  The best Flight Attendants, who have the tools to do their work and provide the foundation for a successful company deserve much better than utterly failed approach management's negotiating team has brought to the table this past year. Stop putting fresh coats of paint on the broken pieces of our company and expecting some sort of miraculously different result.

Printed from the official United Master Executive Council website at www.unitedafa.org.