Who runs the airlines

[pax britanica]

A very interesting US news article from Forbes magazine.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2022/04/18/will-wall-streets-capacity-discipline-enforcers-jump-back-in-as-airlines-report-earnings/?sh=2b2617d44873

Largely about the way US airlines have tried to match capacity to demand and operational capability as Covid appears to recede. But, the underlying point is that it isnt customers, or executives or even shareholders but the Wall St analysts who are the ones CEOs are aiming to please and indeed it seems have to if they want to keep their job.

Personally i dont think that benefits anyone , least of all employees.

[SWBKCB]

Since when were companies run for the benefit of employees?? :eek:

[ATNotts]

Since when were companies run for the benefit of employees?? :eek:

Or customers!!

What galls me is every time there is a "safety / security" issue they trot out the same mantra "safety / security is paramount". Garbage! Profitability is paramount, always has been and always will be. (That of course along with the CEO's bonus, which should, but often doesn't reflect the performance of the company they are running).

Safety and security should, of course be a given.

[davidjohnson6]

The desire to make a profit (and be rewarded for it) is a powerful motivator in the ranks of management. Many of the world's best major airlines have a strong aim towards profitability. That push to be profitable has turned many highly inefficient airlines into highly prodictive organisations. Compare British Airways in the early 1980s with what it was by the mid 1990s

[Asturias56]

" Compare British Airways in the early 1980s with what it was by the mid 1990s"

And compare it to now - the worlds worst IT system, appalling in flight service and actively discouraging passengers because they got their sums wrong again

[pax britanica]

Of course airlines should be run to make a profit but when goals are set by external organisations who have no regard for customers or staff it is going a bit too far.

It is inevitable that in times of economic down turn or uncertainty a company may make a loss for a couple of years and then recover , ups and downs, but these kind of pressures lead to excessive short termism , laying off staff to save money without thinking about what will happen when they are needed again. I think being an airline CEO is not at all an easy job without often ill informed bean counters/speculators settling often inappropriate targets.

I dont hink an airline should be run for the benefit of its employees but there should be propose regard for them. The same analysts who pushed for strong measures to deal with massive downturn in the pandemic are now complaining that airlines dont have the resources to build service back quickly and the reason they dont is because of the analysts in the first place.