23 Years

This morning, I made the heart-breaking decision that my annual cross-country trip on September 11 was not possible this year.  There have been a lot of challenges in my life this last year, and I was forced to be practical about it all.  These trips were always meant to be a way to show respect and remember those lost on September 11, 2001, but they can be expensive.  There was never a problem with affordability in the past, but in the last year, and especially in the last few weeks, life has decided to throw up roadblocks to a lot of things I want to do.  I was looking forward to the trip this year, the itinerary had me starting out in San Francisco, going on to Chicago in one of the new A321neo planes.  From Chicago, I would go on to Newark and then home to Los Angeles.     

But that's enough of feeling sorry for myself, it is time to get back to writing about September 11, and what is going on at United Airlines.  I was trying to decide what to write about this year, and I kept going back to the recent vote by United Airlines' flight attendants that authorized a strike if long-delayed contract negotiations continue to drag on.  In my last post to this blog, I discussed the contract negotiations, and how management at United is continuing down the same path of seeking concessions from their employees in order to improve profitability.  United executives will always come out saying they are always looking to make things better for their employees, but in the end, they always manage to end up taking more than they give.  The question I always ask is why United management cannot respect their employees enough to see that if they give without taking, what they get back from the employees will surprise them?

In the last post I discussed that the flight attendants were holding another "Day of Action" at key United stations around the world.  These events are meant to inform the public of what is going on, and this last one, held on August 28, 2024, coincided with the last day of voting on whether or not to authorize a strike.  I went out to LAX on that day and stood on the sidewalk in front of Terminal 7 holding my sign informing United management that the flight attendants have the customers on their side.  

I was proud to be there on that day when the United AFA leadership announced that over 90% of its members participated in the vote, and from the votes cast, over 99.99% of them were in favor of authorizing a strike.  This level of support for a strike is unprecedented and will give the AFA negotiating committee the ammunition it needs to remain resolute and get what their members want and deserve.

As it happens, this last week in the Wall Street Journal, there was an opinion editorial from Frank Lorenzo, the former head of Continental Airlines' parent company, Texas Air.  Mr. Lorenzo was complaining about how the Biden administration, and in particular Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, are trying to drag the U.S. airlines back to the days before the industry was de-regulated.  Mr. Lorenzo talked about how de-regulation made travel more affordable to all Americans.    Mr. Lorenzo also brought up how he was able to bring Texas International Airlines to the forefront with its "peanut fares," and ushered in the age of the low-cost carrier. 

Good for you Mr. Lorenzo, when you turned traveling by air into a more affordable commodity, you also thought it OK to treat your employees as mere commodities.  Under Mr. Lorenzo's leadership, Texas Air acquired a struggling Continental Airlines.  Within months, Mr. Lorenzo took Continental Airlines into bankruptcy court in order to void union contracts and slash compensation for front-line employees.  The hardest hit group were the Continental flight attendants.  I was working at Frontier Airlines at the time, and I remember walking the picket line with the Continental flight attendants at Denver's Stapleton Airport, as they fought to keep their contract, their jobs, and their dignity.  Instead, most of those that picketed were fired, and they were replaced by lower wage workers who did not have the same experience and skills as their predecessors.  Continental went from being a well-regarded legacy carrier (the proud bird with the golden tail) to one of the lowest rated U.S. air carriers.  Mr. Lorenzo did the same when Texas Air acquired Eastern Airlines.  When the Eastern employee groups did not want to play along with Mr. Lorenzo's way of doing things, Mr. Lorenzo just shut the airline down.  Mr. Lorenzo became a pariah in the industry.

What happened on September 11, 2001, showed us how important and how risky the job can be for airline pilots and flight attendants.  It also showed us how everyone on the front lines of the airlines worked through their grief to get the nation, and the world, flying again.  Yet, this pervasive attitude of management that they always need to get something out of their employees continues.  Mr. Kirby always needs to demonstrate to the Board of Directors that hired him that he has control.  Mr. Kirby and United's Board of Directors have it wrong.  There are two important groups of stakeholders that come before the shareholders - the front-line employees and the customers.  Without the support from both of those groups, Mr. Kirby and his Board would not have jobs.

The events of September 11 also showed us that the first responders on that awful morning were flight attendants, pilots, and customers.  Mr. Buttigieg is not trying to re-regulate the airline industry, he is just trying to show the airlines that the customers will not be treated as basic commodities, and that customers should not have to put up with whatever the airlines want to dish out for them.  The U.S. government has an agency in place to do what it can to make sure passengers can travel safely and comfortably, and the FAA's part in all this became more important after September 11, 2001.  Mr. Buttigieg is only trying to make sure that airline management understands that the customers and front-line employees do have rights.

When I was making my reservation to travel on Wednesday, I was saddened when United Airlines reminded me that my status with them now is only that of a "General Member."  I thought back to how I could have gone from being a Premier 1K, Customer of the Year, Pass Plus card-carrying customer, down to the lowest tier possible.  I then remembered I am not alone in this.  Since September 11, 2001, United Airlines has lost a lot of high-margin customers.  Why pay premium fares for a product that continues to decline in quality?  It is simple Mr. Kirby, when you do not respect your front line, the quality of product they put out reflects that lack of respect.  In order to control costs, some c-suite executive advises you that the front line should be paid less, and not given the proper training and flexibility they need in order to properly accommodate the most important customers.  They advise that is the path to profitability.  Mr. Kirby, you need to put your arrogant c-suite executives, such as John Slater, on the front line and let's see how long they last. 

              

The events of September 11, 2001, need to be remembered not only as a reminder of what evil can look like, that day also showed us that individuals who are on the front lines, whether it be the fire department, police department, paramedics, military personnel, flight attendants, pilots, or any employee on the front line for any business, these are the real people running things.  What those on the front line need most is respect from their leaders, respect that affords them the flexibility to do what is right and to do their job well, along with respect that makes them proud of what they do.  I started making my trips my annual 9/11 trips to show my friends on the front lines at United that they do have the respect of the customers.  It breaks my heart that I cannot do that this year.      

Mr. Kirby, I cannot close this year's post without reiterating my plea to you to properly honor those United employees who lost their lives in the attacks on September 11, 2001.  I am not talking about just one day a year, where employees are left to come up with their own makeshift memorials at stations around the world.  You need to step up and get real about it.  You also need to do something to improve the declining morale as your front-line continues to put up with low wages, poor training, and a record number of operational challenges.  One way to do so is that for every one of those employees that were lost on 9/11, for every new plane that rolls off the assembly line, have one of names painted on it by door number one, and along-side that name should be the United Airlines tulip. These are good people who lost their lives trying to protect United Airlines passengers, and on their uniforms, they proudly wore the United Airlines tulip.  Their names may already be on the memorial in New York, but they deserve to be a part of the "Friendly Skies" every day.  They deserve that kind of legacy.  It would mean so much to your employees, current and retired, as well as your loyal customers.

EPILOGUE

As to one of the reasons why I am not able to travel this year, some of you know the story of my sister in Colorado who has custody of her granddaughters.  When she took that on, I made a commitment to help her financially when she needed it.  If you do not know the story, you can check out the Go Fund Me page I put up for her recently.   Here you can get an idea of the events that have transpired -https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-janet-provide-stability-for-lily-and-charlii?qid=23f59f3ebc4b7a0dbcddb38e75ecbf86.  The response to this page has been overwhelming, and we were able to raise the goal amount set.  Please, this is not a solicitation for donations.  The focus now is with the older granddaughter, Lily, who has some serious behavioral problems that require treatment.  The time and attention that this requires are making it difficult for my sister to get her own financial house in order.  I need to be prepared to step up and help, and I cannot do that and still make the trip this year.  I made a vow to myself that when this is all straightened out, I will get back to the Friendly Skies more often.  I keep hoping for some return to the United Airlines I once knew, and I do miss the employees.      

 - Thank You all for keeping the Skies Friendly -

James Anderson, Mileage Plus HVC21479.