Tuesday, February 7, 2012

American jobs versus American Airlines


What is a job? Sure it is work, usually somewhere between eight and fourteen hours a day.  It can be inside, outside, at the office or from home.  It is giving some service or labor for a monetary reward.

But a job is also about providing.  Providing for one’s needs.  For a family. For the future.  It is about self-preservation, as well as self-worth. A job is about some form of sustainability both as the family unit and the extended family of the community.

I recently read that American Airlines was going to try and cut 13,000 jobs during their bankruptcy, while holding onto one of the largest cash reserves they’ve ever had. It doesn’t seem right to me. 

It has all the smell of union busting. Shut down the company in bankruptcy, move the jobs off shore, reopen the business and wah-la we’re in business and profitable.  All on the backs of American workers.  (FYI, Bain Capital, Mitt Romney’s old buddies are guiding American through the process.  Figures. America, if you like this process, you’re going to love a GOP president and congress.  Fair warning!))

And this from an Airline that was literally charging for everything. You want a blanket on a cold flight? Pay for it.  You want to take luggage on a flight?  Pay for it.  In fact it had gotten so ridiculous about what American was going to charge for that my kids were provoked to anger, when on a eight-hour flight they had to pay for a meal. And when that meal got to them it was a sack of corn chips. And there were no pillows.

American Airlines problems were not labor.  American’s problems may well have been from their loyalty program the AAdvantage®  points system. You see people flew American because they had so many miles banked with the airline.  Our family did. And over time, American employees learned that being nice or being cordial wasn’t a corporate policy. As American turned the faucet of customer care off, the employees were left out there alone without a safety net.  They became angry and even resentful.  And they knew we’d fly anyway, because we were addicted to the miles.

AAdvantage Miles were our heroin.  We couldn’t get enough. And customer service flew out the window. Slowly, our family and our friends discovered there were other airlines going to the same cities we were going to.  Airlines that gave a damn about your comfort and your schedule. (How many times do I have to sit on the tarmac and hear, “Our gate is not open yet…”  Like they didn’t know we were coming?”)

No, American Airlines has been a poorly operated, poorly managed company for a long time.  It has been heading to this end for many, many years.  I just hope that in its restructuring, the Federal Bankruptcy Judge sees that it should not be on the backs of American workers, but rather a change at the top is in order.  The suits need to go.

13,000 Jobs.  That’s a lot of families a lot of people looking for work. That has deep repercussions throughout many communities. I think the bankruptcy court can find a better way to restructure American.

As with a lot of today corporations, it should start at the very top.

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