If the saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results” is true, then what is it when the same people are allowed to do the same thing over and over again? Supreme insanity, perhaps? Second, there has never been any real accountability for the decision-makers as a result of any of these fiascos, or the numerous smaller ones in between. From the original Midway Meltdown (and then the second larger one ) to destroying our on-time-performance with the added “virtual airframes” experiment to the “router brownout” (2016) to the “Jacksonville Center debacle” (Columbus Day weekend, October 2021) to what we are experiencing today, there are two common threads that bind each of these incidents together.įirst, they were all results of conscious operational, manpower, or tech infrastructure investment decisions made at the senior levels of our Company. Systemwide meltdowns at Southwest Airlines have been increasing in frequency and magnitude over the past 15 years. It is time to have a frank discussion about the root cause of the quagmire that we find ourselves in today. ![]() ![]() That fix is actual and tangible accountability above the front-line worker level for the first time in our recent history. And these messages obfuscate the actual corrective action that is absolutely necessary to pull out of this graveyard spiral that our Company’s so-called leaders have placed us in. While we continue to receive saccharine corporate-communications-department-written and legal-counsel-reviewed “we’re sorry” and “I love you” meaningless and generic messages from SWA corporate executives, they obscure a genuine cancer within our Company that has been an ever-growing existential threat that must be excised before it becomes terminal. Actually, in our case, it’s three words: Lack of leadership. How did we get here? How did we go from the most stable and profitable airline in history to the greatest meltdown in airline history? As with most organizations, the answer can be distilled down to one word: Leadership. “Arguably, our shareholders have suffered for a long time when it comes to getting a return and our employees have been very well taken care of.” Ultimately, it’s shareholder value that you’re producing.” So there’s no constituency at war with any other constituency. If you truly treat your employees that way, they will treat your customers well, your customers will come back, and that’s what makes your shareholders happy. Only it doesn’t do that, quite the opposite! It may mislead investors for a time into thinking that the business will run on lower costs, but the investment deficit will need to be made up, and the year-end debacle at Southwest will cost the airline hundreds of millions in lost revenue and in traveler reimbursements. In doing so he tries to connect choosing to underinvest in technology as a way to increase shareholder return. However he also goes down the rabbit hole of stock buybacks, repeating the incorrect trope that buybacks increase share price. Tom Nekouei, 2nd Vice President of SWAPA, mostly dumps on former CEO Gary Kelly, who retired early in 2022, and correctly flags that the company has deferred technology investment for decades. It’s a mix of correct analysis and hobby horses. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.The Southwest Airlines pilot union sent its members a note in the aftermath of their airline’s meltdown, diagnosing the core issues and challenges at the company. Market holidays and trading hours provided by Copp Clark Limited. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices Copyright S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates. Standard & Poor’s and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. ![]() ![]() Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account
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