It has been "amazing" how much hatred is directed toward the operational staff, yet how many requests have I had for the jumpseat this week due to most of our (QF) flights being full?? You work in what department? What does that do? And yet, you still need a red ASIC?
As the role of HR and IR was interwoven into DNA, it is a study in itself whether setting work groups against each other actually adds anything to the output.
Suffice to say, a hostile work environment commences with a board edict enacted by a CEO and executive management.
That the CEO of a prominent airline in Australia earns some 590 times his FTE workers earn is outrageous and only widens the gulf between the C suite and the functioning business.
The problem for airlines with this style of Corporate model is that a dynamic people business that relies on lots of moving parts.
The late Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines was so adamant that respect for each other was the defining characteristic that every policy and directive was framed with respect for the individual, their role in the company and even when dealing with the less savoury elements of employee management, the framing consideration was to be of respect.
Herb was not a small man, either in stature or calibre.
As he remarked openly;
"A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear."
The pilots of Southwest thought so much of Herb Kelleher that for a watershed birthday they bought him a rather expensive motorcycle.
Contrasted to grubs like O'Leary, Cruze, Walsh or Joyce, the only motorcycle they would put the CEO on would be one with no brakes and a rather large chasm to jump.
Perhaps this whole thread can be deleted as O'Leary, Walsh, Cruze and Joyce will emerge and visit their operational staff on Christmas day, perhaps share a drink and a conversation.
Modern airline management is dysfunctional , the ever widening gap is obvious in many airlines, but just imagine were the Southwest Way (thanks Jodi Gittell) embraced how much more harmonious work would be.