One Outta Three...

For our Flight Attendants, yesterday was pregnant with possibility.  Yes, our employer announced a record-breaking result for the quarter (or any previous quarter, for that matter).  Our financial stability is solid, thanks largely to the moderated price of fuel.  Almost simultaneously with the quarterly result, an announcement was made that our board has authorized a $3B stock buyback plan, solidifying our position in the market but also benefitting shareholders, especially those with substantial holdings.

A year ago, almost 4 years into our merger, The airline and the F/A union agreed that 7/23/15 would be the target date for a tentative agreement to combine our Inflight workforce.  The day came and went without an agreement.  Instead of news that a TA had been reached, a laundry list of outstanding contract sections, some of the most important and most fractious issues to be negotiated, was published.

My peers have firsthand knowledge as to the state of our operation.  Most of us have a keen insight as to our customers' point of view.  Do you see a correlation between our financial performance and our operational performance?  I flew as a revenue customer over the July 4th holiday.  On the return trip, my BOS/IAH flight was nearly 3 hours late because of a computer outage that day.  The crew was perilously close to going illegal for the trip.  If they had, the result on customers would have been calamitous.

Many of my colleagues, myself included, are all three of the things that our company represents as "most important":  customer, employee and shareholder.

I am happy to report that as at least one of those three, I am "feeling the love". 

It's the other two that have me concerned.