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US Airways Media Day: New Faces, New Philly Management Plan, But Still Looking for Metal to Fly the China Flights

Thursday, US Airways held its annual Media Day at the airline's headquarters in Tempe. As I mentioned in a PlaneBuzz note this week, the airline is deserving of mucho brownie points because they even hold a Media Day. The only other airline that stages a full-blown media day is Southwest Airlines. But even they don't hold them on a regular annual schedule anymore.

Another aspect that makes the US Airways day a bit different is that they not only invite journalists who cover the industry, but also invite those who observe the industry, or who consult with the industry in some cases.

Wise move on the airline's part.

And oh yes, they also invite bloggers. Our friend Brett Snyder who has carved out a nice niche for himself with his CrankyFlier blog was there this year. He also managed to snag a nice shoutout from none other than Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways, who, it seems, wrote a recommendation letter to Stanford on Brett's behalf years ago when Brett was working in revenue management at America West.

The letter must have been pretty good, because Brett was accepted, which meant that Brett left the airline to pursue his MBA. And he never came back.

But he was there Thursday. As CrankyFlier.

He was not, however, giving out free Cranky t-shirts.

As is usually the case with such events, there are a couple of general story lines that one can pursue. One, how the airline presented itself to those in attendance. Did we have personal access to the management team, for instance. Were the management team members willing to talk freely, not always from a script? Was the information provided authentic and useful, and not just PR corporate speak?

On another level, there is the information that was actually conveyed about the airline. Were there any newsworthy items? Did we learn anything significant?

I'd say the airline did a very good job this year. Although I did miss driving go-carts against the members of the management team like we did last year. That was fun.

No, this year the night-before event was held at a Mexican restaurant and the main event was a salsa-making contest, in which those of us in attendance broke up into random groups and, using ingredients the restaurant supplied, proceeded to concoct our own special salsa.

Right.

My group was a very interesting one. It included Phil Gee, senior manager, corporate public relations; Doug Parker; Robert Isom, COO of US Airways; and Mary Kirby, aka Runway Girl. Yes, another blogger.

So, did our batch win the contest? Not hardly. It was, as the official tester put it, immediately hot in the mouth, and well, it just stayed that way.

Thanks Dougie. He was the one who kept telling us to put more peppers in the blender. Habaneros no less.

Anyway, you get the picture.

In terms of having direct access to those at the top of the airline, everyone who was there had it. The same was true on Thursday as well. Not only did the airline make available specific one-on-one time with the top brass for reporters, but heck, all you had to do was walk up to Scott Kirby or Robert Isom or whomever and talk to them during the breaks in the scheduled presentations.

Excellent job by the PR folks at US Airways. The program format used here should be used as a model by other airlines. Then again, since no one else is doing a similar thing on a regular basis, I guess this is just wishful thinking on my part.

Essentially, the program took place in one room, with brief opening remarks by Doug Parker. The PR department tied the program together with a series of "USCAR" awards. Complete with a red carpet. And small mini-Oscar statuettes. The idea was that they gave out awards to a number of media folks in attendance -- and one who was not -- for various "noteworthy" behaviors.

No, thankfully, yours truly was not singled out. Fine by me.

Peter Greenberg of NBC was, however, in absentia.

Andrea Rader, Director of Corporate Communications, presented Peter with an USCAR in recognition of having the most "creative" excuse for not being in attendance. The excuse he gave when he called in? He was having to interview the Queen of Sweden in Las Vegas, and the schedule was running behind.

Actually, the award was given to him accompanied with a question, "Why can't US Airways get a nice infomercial done about us like you did for American Airlines?

Heh.

If you know Peter, and you saw his piece on American that ran on CNBC, you'll get the jabs.

On to more of the "meat" of the day.

As I said, Doug Parker opened up the day with some remarks, most of which concerned consolidation. It seemed that the gist of his message was that yes, while he has been, and continues to be, an advocate for the concept, that advocacy comes with qualifications.

The whole idea is to cut costs and cut capacity. "If you just do a deal and you raise your costs, and you don't cut capacity, you're worse off than you were before."

"Just taking two airlines and putting them together does not create efficiencies or value," Parker stressed.

He added also that the cost of putting together a deal has to be "reasonable."

He then went over a list of things that US Airways had learned, post-AWA-US Airways deal.

1. Benefits are real and significant.

Doug talked about how the deal took one airline that was about to liquidate and one that was struggling to find a way to grow and created an airline that is "posting operating margins at the leading edge of the industry."

2. You can't make everyone happy.

Doug said, "Management's job is to manage the company. Sometimes this means you have to do some things that make some groups unhappy. But I would argue that management's job is to make the hard decisions. You can't pass that off to other groups.

(Aside, was it just me or was this a not-so-subtle slam at Delta Air Lines and Northwest management for letting the pilots at both airlines act as dealmakers/dealbreakers?)

3. Expect some operational disruption.

Doug advised those thinking of doing a deal to "get through it as fast as you can. I wish we had gone through it faster."

"When you first put two airlines together, there is no integration going on. Just marketing integration. But when you hit that nine- to 18-month phase, that is when the operational difficulties show up."

He then talked about how frustrating this can be for the company, which, after having going through a relatively "problem-free" marketing integration phase, can then be somewhat caught off-guard by operational difficulties that are an inevitable part of the deal.

4. Leadership team building is critical and challenging.

Doug talked about how difficult it is to take two teams of management people and make them into one team. As he said, "The challenge is not just getting the right people, it is to get them to work together."

5. Be more decisive than usual.

Doug admitted, "We let all of this drag on too long. I should have realized much sooner that you can't make everyone happy. You simply have to make the decisions and move forward -- after you've put together what it is you want to do."

6. Ask for help.

As Doug put it, over the last year, there had been more "consultants" crawling around US Airways than ever before. But as he put it, "You need to know enough to ask for help, to let people come in and help you."

7. Communicate, communicate and communicate with your employees.

Doug said that now "not more than a week goes by that I don't address a group of employees in person. And now we tape all of those meetings. So now all our employees can see those meetings on the airline's website."

As Doug said, "Look, airlines are "farms for rumors" anyway," saying again that it was important to make sure all lines of communication were open. And that goes both ways.

"When you're out there talking to people, you get feedback real quickly -- REAL quickly," he added with a smile.

Now it was time for the kicker.

Would he do it again?

"Absolutely."

Has it been hard?

"Absolutely."

Doug then talked about a tagline that we had seen in our booklets the PR department had prepared for us. The tagline read, "Airline Of Choice -- Reliability, Convenience, and Appearance."

Doug explained that he was aware that in the past Stephen Wolf had come up with a tagline of "Airline of Global Choice." When Doug said this, it was accompanied by a rather affected hand motion of making a globe.

And every time Doug repeated it, he made the same hand motion.

Pretty amusing.

Doug also noted that someone had told him that United Airlines had recently done an investor presentation in which they used the same tagline. (Accompanied once again by the proper hand motion.)

"I'm not sure if Glenn's [Tilton] aware that this was Steve's phrase or not," Doug deadpanned.

Doug closed by saying, "Our industry is in a mess. Oil at $100 a barrel and a slowing economy is not a good combination."

But these are things over which an airline has no control. What it does have control over is how it manages itself.

On that front, Doug emphasized that the airline has $3 billion in cash, it has no major debt obligations until 2014, and management has prepared the airline well to "withstand an economic downturn."

That was the extent of Doug's opening comments. And no, you notice he did not talk about how the airline industry was headed for a "downturn" as the Reuters' reporter wrote in a wire story that hit every news outlet on the planet Thursday afternoon.

As I said in a PlaneBuzz note about this article Friday, I thought the Reuters piece was an inaccurate take of the gist of the airline's comments during the day, and particularly of Doug Parker's comments, both his opening comments and his later comments during the official question and answer session.

Scott Kirby, President of US Airways, then presented a few prepared remarks. There was a lot in Scott's comments that we had heard before, both at investor meetings and in the recent quarterly earnings call.

Essentially, Scott talked about the three biggest factors affecting the airline's performance in 2007 -- high fuel costs, the reservations migration, and other operational issues.

Kirby, as he has done in the past, didn't mince words when he talked about how poorly the airline handled the reservations migration process.

As he said, the airline learned its lesson. The whole thing could have been handled much better.

On the issue of other operational problems, such as poor on-time performance and baggage handling, Scott touched briefly on the airline's new emphasis on RCA, or reliability, convenience and appearance. Robert Isom went into more detail on all this in a later presentation.

Scott also touched on the airline's labor issues, as he talked about where the airline stands in terms of negotiations with all of its major labor groups.

As most of you probably read, there was a group of US Airways employees who picketed at the front of the airline's headquarters Thursday.

There weren't that many, but the protest was highlighted by the appearance of one of those huge inflatable rats. You know the ones I'm talking about.

I'm not sure which labor group this particular rat belonged to, as I was running late to the first session, and did not have a chance to ask, but I was told that ALPA had recently purchased a new rat for $4000. And this particular rat looked pretty clean. So maybe this was ALPA's new rat.

Scott wrapped up his presentation by talking about how all the research shows that customers pick an airline based on schedule and price, but only if they have confidence in the reliability, convenience, and appearance of that particular airline.

Earning that confidence is the goal that US Airways has put into place going forward.

On that front, the airline detailed the improvements it intends to make in its onboard experience, both domestic and internationally. And, in both coach and in first-class.

The airline is now slated to begin testing a new IFE package this year.

In addition, the airline is spending $50 million on an upgrade of the interiors of nearly 300 mainline aircraft which will include new leather seating.

At this point in the day, we were split up into three separate break-out sessions. One session was led by Andrew Nocella, SVP of schedule planning and alliances; another was led by Suzanne Boda, SVP east coast, international and cargo operations

Finally, in the third session we got to eat. Wheee!

This session was led by Sherri Shamblin, VP of inflight, and Kevin Jackson, managing director of marketing. This session guided us through the changes the airline is making to its Envoy services and to give us a "taste" of the airline's new brunch offering on its westbound service across the pond; we were served a selection of the same food items passengers will be able to choose from.

In Andrew's session, the main focus was on US Airways' future growth options. He outlined its fleet growth plans, including the 17 new A330-200s it plans to take delivery of between 2009-2011.

The A350WB was portrayed as the airline's new "flagship" aircraft. The airline currently has 22 of the aircraft on order. Had to chuckle when at the bottom of a list of attributes of the aircraft was this line, "Purchased at great price."

Yeah. We pretty much assumed as much.

The airline projects that it will add nine new European markets between now and 2011. The focus from Philadelphia will be to new destinations in Europe and the Middle East. The airline is looking at Charlotte as having more potential for future South American routes.

And what about those flights to China? Andrew said that yes, the airline is planning to fly the route to Beijing from Philly. But the route does pose some "logistical challenges."

While the airline still has a little over a year to obtain an aircraft that can fly the route, preferably an A340, the airline has not been succesful in finding one as of yet. There are not that many of them out there, and as was said later in the day, the airline would not consider obtaining just "any" aircraft, given the importance of the route. The airline would not want to take on a used aircraft that could present ongoing maintenance issues.

Andrew said the airline could use an A330, which it will have underfoot, but "it is not an ideal plane to fly to Beijing. But it can fly to Beijing."

As for Suzanne's presentation, first, how many of you have ever met this woman?

What a tightly wound package of energy she is. And I mean that in a positive way.

A former Northwest Airlines alum, Boda has only been at the airline for two months or so, but unless I'm losing my ability to size up management types pretty well, she appears to be an excellent addition to the group.

Suzanne's presentation dealt with one thing and one thing only -- Philadelphia.

The airline has essentially thrown in the towel in terms of trying to manage Philly from Tempe. Good move.

It is now in the process of setting up a small executive management team in Philadelphia, full-time. This will include human resources, government affairs, finance, real estate, information technology, safety, and corporate communications.

The airline, which has already put some $15 million into upgrading its equipment and facilities in Philly is now looking at investing another $28 million in 2008.

To listen to Suzanne's laundry list of what the airline has on its plate for Philly in 2008, it really did sound like the establishment of a fully functioning satellite office -- only, as she noted, without the brick and mortar to go with it.

Overall, an excellent and informative session, as Suzanne talked about both the "people" side of the changes being implemented in Philly as well as the infrastructure and program changes being tackled.

While many longer-term goals were outlined, Suzanne emphasized two immediate goals the airline wants to achieve before this summer: (1) improving its international re-check system, and (2) increasing checkpoint staffing.

Before the summer of 2009, the airline intends to accomplish the following: open 3-6 new international gates; optimize the customs and immigration process for its passengers; upgrade the concourse B and C checkpoints; and improve the signage throughout the airport.

Finally, the last of the break-out sessions dealt with the changes the airline is making to its onboard service.

The airline began by sharing some results from recent surveys of its own Envoy-class fliers. They even shared a chart that showed that customers rated the existing service ahead of only American, Delta, and Northwest. This was not saying much, as United, Air France, Continental, Lufthansa, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic all rated higher.

Okay, so throw out the international carriers. Continental rated much higher and United was just a tad above.

Still. It's always nice to see an airline not post only skewed "overly positive" numbers that make it look better than it really is. ( I know, you're probably shocked that some companies would even consider doing this.)

They then shared the results of their survey in which they asked customers what they valued, in terms of service.

Nothing shocking in the results. Customers wanted flight attendants to be more attentive, along with better meal quality and better selection.

The airline then outlined what it was going to change. The highlight of the presentation was the airline's new "brunch" offering that it will be serving on its Envoy service to the U.S.

No pre-plated or pre-packaged entrees.

No, instead flight attendants will serve brunch from carts, and passengers will be able to pick and choose what they want from a large assortment of appetizers and entrees. A selection of desserts and fruits and cheeses will finish out the meal.

As part of the presentation we were served examples of the appetizers that will be available, but alas we didn't get to try the mimosas, sparkling wine, or Bloody Marys.

The appetizers we were treated to were all very fresh, with most emphasizing fresh fish, including salmon, shrimp, and a scallop ceviche.

If the entrees are as good as the appetizers, I'd say they have come up with a good idea.

The airline is also in the midst of upgrading the seats in its Envoy class to near lie-flat seats. This should be done by May. Personal handheld IFE products will also be rolled out before May.

All of this brought us, after a break, to Robert Isom's presentation.

Robert is the airline's relatively new COO, and as I have written here previously, Robert had come highly recommended to me by more than one subscriber when his arrival was first announced.

Having now met Robert and after having a chance to sit and chat with him, I am even more impressed. The guy has a refreshing attitude, he's got a wicked sense of humor, and he refuses to be told "no." Or at least that is how it appears to me.

Oh, and he's also not afraid to admit when he doesn't know something. He appears to be a strong believer in, "Okay, you tell me how we can do it better and why." He is certainly not someone who thinks his way is the only way. Or else.

A very good sign.

Did Robert tell us all any exotic secrets as to how he is going to improve the operations mess at US Airways?

No, not hardly. As the title of his presentation said, "Back to basics."

So what observations has Robert made during his brief stint at the airline? One, he noted that "I've seen labor relations a lot worse at other airlines." It should be noted that before his last stint at GMAC, Robert worked at Northwest Airlines. He added that he felt the employees at the airline "have the will and the desire to succeed." He also noted that relations with the FAA and the airline seem to be very strong and productive. (Always a good thing.) Finally, he added that the hardest part of the operations integration process is almost complete. (We're talking basic operations here, not the labor part of the integration.)

So what challenges face the US Airways operation?

Isom said that first, there has to be a clear set of operating goals established, which had not been done previously. Second, the airline has to re-establish discipline to get aircraft away from the gate on-time. Third, it has to continue to invest in airport infrastructure and automation. Fourth, the airline has to focus on the RCA items: reliability, convenience, and appearance.

Listening to Robert talk, one was struck by just how basic and simple the RCA program is, but as he said, while it may seem simple, it's about much more than just putting words on paper. Or, as he said, "We had to establish a rallying cry to get people focused. The on-time problem had become a serious morale issue. Our employees had been forced to endure a summer where no one was happy. This hurts morale. Our customers? We put them through heck as well. For shareholders, we were running a very poor operation and a poorly run operation is a very costly thing to do."

If this sounds like a page right out of the Continental Airlines playbook, you're right. But while anyone can rip out a page, it takes the right attitude to try and make it work. And yes, I think Robert is that kind of guy. He's infectious with his enthusiasm.

He then talked again about how the airline continues to play "catch-up" on a lot of fronts, the result of so little money being expended on infrastructure by US Airways in the past.

Robert then outlined the particulars of the operations recovery plan he has put in place. One, it is crucial the airline does not get behind before it even gets started. In other words, it is imperative that its first bank of flights gets out on-time. Period.

The airline's turn performance is then critical. Next, there is the issue of baggage handling. Finally, there is safety.

On the baggage front, he admitted that the bulk of the problem on this front remains Philadelphia, and that this one is going to be the hardest to turn around, as the problem still requires more changes to the infrastructure in Philly. As he said, "In most cases, we don't have the latest and greatest in terms of baggage sorting equipment, etc., but that gap will eventually close. But this will remain a long-term project."

On the change front, he outlined a number of changes being made to improve reliability, including: installing gate readers in all locations. Yes, the airline is still manually handling this in some locations.

Second, the airline is seeking to take all complex transactions away from the airport, letting airport customer relations people concentrate on one thing -- customer relations.

Third, bags need to be able to be scanned at all points of handling.

Fourth, the baggage handling automation equipment upgrades that will improve connecting baggage flow.

Finally, the airline is upgrading its cabin interiors. Interestingly, Robert also noted that the budget for this includes the money to "protect this investment." In other words, as he put it, the "maintenance required to properly take care of the new interiors."

On the convenience side, the airline wants to give as many self-service options as possible to customers. "I want to open up as many contact points as possible for a customer, which will enable that customer to solve any problem," Robert said.

Off-site check-in options will be expanded.

The airline intends to install passport and credit card readers, and it is looking at ways to "creatively leverage" wireless applications.

As for appearance, the airline is in the process of revising its cleaning standards, it is setting up a new system to track maintenance events, and the airline will roll out new employee uniforms early this summer.

Overall, I thought Robert's presentation was the most detailed, and I would say, encouraging, I've ever heard from the airline, in terms of operations.

Our next major presenter was CFO Derek Kerr.

I would add that Derek took me aside Wednesday night and talked to me about my recent comment concerning possible credit downgrades in the industry, and how US Airways could be the next airline to feel the wrath of S&P. He made some good points, and as a result, in the next couple of weeks we’ll get together and talk more about specifics.

Sounds good to me.

As for Derek's presentation Thursday, if you are a close follower of the airline's earnings presentations, there was not much in this that you are not already aware of. Although there were a few interesting "fun financial facts" thrown out for the consumption of those in the room.

For 2007, US Airways' top three expense items were:

Fuel 30%
Payroll 26%
Rents (aircraft and airport) 13%

As for fuel impact, every dollar increase in the price of crude oil adds $37 million to the airline's fuel cost.

And for those of you who need a reminder of how profitable airlines really are, Derek mentioned also that for every dollar of revenue, US Airways earned a whopping 3.8 cents as pretax profit.

And yes, I did also note that Derek took great pains to explain why it is that the airline is in very good shape, in terms of its cash position and its debt. Yes, I noticed the emphasis, Derek. Thank you.

The last executive presentation was from C.A. Howlett, SVP of public affairs.

When I retire, I want C.A.'s job. I mean, how tough can it be to hang out in Washington and entertain people all the time? Not to mention he also gets to take people to Suns basketball games and hang out in the airline's special box.

That's the job I want.

Well, then again. There is that "Washington" aspect.

There was not much new in C.A.s presentation this year, a fact he addressed at the beginning as he noted that two years ago he titled his presentation, "Déjà vu." Last year it was "Déjà vu" All Over Again."

This year? There was no place to take the theme.

C.A. talked briefly about the FAA reauthorization efforts, which he dryly noted stand little chance of being successful in 2008. Then again, as he noted, the highway reauthorization bill was continued 22 times. So who knows how long this could go on?

He did talk a bit about proposed changes in the perimeter rules. One change being proposed would allow carriers which have slots at National Airport to convert flights now serving large hub airports inside the perimeter into flights serving any airport outside the perimeter.

Regarding La Guardia, there is a proposal that would allow carriers to "trade" reasonable reductions in flight activity for access to points beyond the perimeter.

This is in addition to a proposal that C.A. said will be presented soon that would increase the number of seats of aircraft at LaGuardia.

He touched on the issues of climate change and the Lieberman-Warner proposal that would establish a "Cap and Trade" system that would take effect in 2012, explaining why it is that there are problems with the proposed plan, especially in terms of transparency. Another problem? The bill as currently written would not pre-empt state action.

C.A. also touched on the various Passenger Bill of Rights efforts. He noted that a current proposal provides that an airline that cancels a flight or delays a flight by more than 1 hour twice in a calendar year commits a misdemeanor of the second degree (up to 60 days in jail, 6 months probation/$500 fine.) As C.A. said, "There is some debate internally here as to just who would be responsible for serving the time."

Questions and Answers

In the Q and A session, Tom Belden from the Philadelphia Inquirer asked about consolidation. Okay, so I've not heard about any benefits to the consumer, how do you sell it?

Doug responded, saying, "By making a stronger industry. Granted, I haven't heard very many people say it's a good thing either, but I do think it's a good thing to have a financially stable industry."

Doug then gave the example of FedEx and UPS, explaining that pilots at those two airlines make the highest salaries of any pilot group. "That's good. It's good for labor to work in a financially stable industry."

Then again, why is the cargo business financially stable? Because the airlines can pass along the increase in fuel prices directly to its customers.

But after going on for a few minutes about why he thinks it is a good idea, Doug added that he agreed that the only time a proposed deal tends to get a thumbs-up is when it is a crisis situation, as was the case with US Airways.

The inevitable demand question then came up, and Scott responded, again, that there is "very limited evidence, so far, of a downturn in demand."

He added, "We worry about it. Eventually, as history has shown us, the things we are seeing should translate into a drop in air transport demand."

He added the key is capacity. "If the industry can continue to take out capacity, we'll be better off." But even he admitted that with a weakening economy and $100 oil, cutting capacity will only go so far.

As to the airline's recent announcement that it will charge customers for their second bag, Scott said that "a la carte pricing? I think the industry is evolving to a more a la carte model."

He then added that since 1980, yields are down more than 50% in terms of real prices. But costs at airlines have continued to increase.

A question was then asked about the claim the airline has achieved its recent on-time performance improvement only because block hours were increased.

Doug responded that yes, the airline did take some aircraft time out of the system, but that "we're not building in hour pads," as the pilots' union accused the airline of doing in a release last week.

Robert then added that the airline needed to get its infrastructure improved, and that the airline does intend on taking the block time back out.

(A later conversation with someone at US Airways confirms that yes, some of that time has already been removed in the next schedule.)

Robert then explained that "block time" is very different at different airlines. For instance, because of the issues at Philly, the airline has much larger than normal block times there to begin with.

The issue of the charge for a second bag came up again, and in response to a question about the $25 charge, Scott said that he did not expect the airline to change it's decision. He estimates the change will only affect about 8% of the airline's passengers.

He then added, "Although I hate to, you know, never say never."

There were questions on the Philly operations build-up, and Doug talked about the fact the airline saw this as a major change, adding, "We are going to turn Philadelphia into a regional headquarters. We recognize that we need more executives there on the ground all the time, in addition to the support functions they need."

He added, "We also have to develop a better working relationship with the airport authority. We've done a poor job of this in the past." He closed by saying the build-up will total a net of 10 jobs.

A question was asked about the availability of EETC financing, and Derek responded that the EETC markets have basically "dried up."

He added that the bank market for aircraft financing still seems strong, and the airline has financing in place now for all its 190s that are on order, and the airline is now working on getting financing in place for its A321s that are on order. Considering the volatility of the markets, Derek said the airline is very keen on getting this financing in place as quickly as possible.

Dan Reed from USA Today asked about why a foreign airline would want to take a 25% stake in a U.S. domestic airline. (Not mentioning any names.)

Doug responded that well, he saw it as a way for them to "have a seat at the table." Or, as he put it, "I think, and this is just conjecture, that Lufthansa was looking further down the road to a day when maybe there won't be a 25% restriction."

Or, he added, if KLM-Air France now owned 25% of Delta, Air France could possibly have had more say on the activity of the Delta domestic operation -- or the deal with Northwest.

On the potential Delta-Northwest deal, Doug responded that "All I know is what I read. And what I read is that they are saying they are not going to cut capacity. So I don't know what the advantages of the deal are."

It was not too long after this that Doug was asked a question that dealt with the pilot seniority issue and the problems besetting the Delta-Northwest deal.

To which he responded quickly, "Asking pilots to resolve seniority integration is something that takes a long time. It sounds like the situation with Delta and Northwest is a similar situation. "

He then continued, "I think it puts the pilots in a very bad position to then have to do it in a very short time frame.

"Frankly, management doesn't care that much who is sitting in which seat. But it is crucial to a pilot -- the difference in pay, benefits, lifestyle, etc. To ask them to resolve this in a very short period of time, they aren't going to be able to do it. "

"It's not fair to them."

"I cannot imagine how they get this resolved."

But he was not done yet.

"Pilots were asked to do something that was impossible."

He then added, "Throwing money at the problem is not going to make it better either."

One more.

"It's going to be extremely hard to get this done anytime soon."

Now, any questions on what Mr. Parker thinks are the chances this problem gets worked out anytime soon?

I didn't think so.

Wrap-Up

Another Media Day gone. Was it worth the trip?

Yes. It's worth a great deal to be able to talk to Scott, Doug, Robert, Andrew, C.A., Derek, and all the rest of the team, both on the record and off the record. It is also invaluable, in this current environment, to meet, face to face, those new faces we've only heard third-party reports on -- such as Suzanne Boda and Robert Isom.

The program moved along pretty quickly, wireless connectivity worked fine for me while in the main room where the program was held, and heck, I got to try some fresh salmon with dill sauce and cantaloupe and prosciutto from the airline's new brunch menu.

Oh, yes, they fed us lunch too.

Congratulations to the airline for a job well done. Now, if we could only get more airlines to do the same.

PlaneBusiness Banter Disclosure Notes: Holly Hegeman currently holds no positions in any stocks discussed in today's issue. PlaneBusiness.com is not currently engaged in a consulting capacity with any airline discussed in today's issue. However, we do routinely provide research and/or consulting services for airlines and/or financial firms related to the industry. Comments made in regard to individual stocks in this publication are not to be interpreted as stock recommendations.

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