XPost: rec.travel.air, alt.travel   
   From: jeffhacker@sbcglobal.net   
      
   IMHO, this is all a result of 20 plus years of deregulation.  Airline   
   employees make considerably less than  before, and the airlines earn less.   
   Deregulation was a disaster.   
      
   Jeff   
      
   "None"  wrote in message   
   news:LJOnb.6950$RQ1.1396@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...   
   > From USAViation message boards:   
   >   
   > You have to keep a very important thing in mind, regardless of your   
   loathing   
   > for specific posters on this board who happen to be AA/FAs (or maybe not   
   who   
   > really knows) labor has legitimate complaints, and labor has just as much   
   of   
   > a right, if not more, to vent as anyone else.   
   >   
   > Do you know why AA just up and ended the SOS program? Because labor was   
   > getting sick and tired of having to perform like trained dogs for a   
   stinkin'   
   > coupon to get a little recognition out of a customer that they could not   
   > otherwise get from their employer. The SOS program was a slap in the face   
   to   
   > every employee at AA who got one. I suppose to you, it's like tossing your   
   > dog a 'beggin strip' for making you happy. Just like those AAchiever   
   points,   
   > they weren't worth the toilet paper they were printed on. AA wasn't   
   > rewarding their employees with fair wages and fair labor practices, so   
   they   
   > were forcing them to "perform" for the customers to get points, and hope   
   > that the performance kept the customers coming back. Remember, those SOS   
   > points weren't given to just any customer - I never used any, they went in   
   > the circular file.   
   >   
   > As a frequent flyer with many miles, your tone seems to indicate to me   
   that   
   > those miles have granted you some sort of status over AA employees or   
   anyone   
   > else on board for that matter. It doesn't. I had those miles too, but I   
   cut   
   > up the cards and shoved 'em up Don Carty's fanny long ago. They mean   
   > nothing. Just like the SOS and AAchiever programs treated employees like   
   > trained animals, the FF miles were AA's way of handing you a treat for   
   > performing just as the airline wants you to.   
   >   
   > I don't doubt your on-board story one bit, in fact, I've had similar   
   > experiences. But that is exactly how karma works, sometimes it just   
   > recognizes the fact that you are over due, or in need of a good karmic   
   > bltch-slap, and sometimes it chooses an FA to deliver it. Sometimes it   
   > chooses a cab driver, a hotel clerk, a bank teller, or the customer   
   service   
   > rep on the phone at your favorite porno movie club!   
   >   
   > This thread started out by someone posting a rumor-based "article"   
   regarding   
   > the possibility of a sick out over the holidays. It didn't say   
   Thanksgiving,   
   > Christmas, New Years, it was non-specific, which is why I questioned it to   
   > begin with. I realize that labor has some very legitimate complaints. I   
   see   
   > them every time I fly now, on the faces of stressed out gate agents and   
   > flight attendants who are so goddamned tired they can barely drag their   
   > rollaboard behind them! For that "honor" they forked over astronomical,   
   > never before heard of wage concessions and work rule changes, because   
   > Carty-the-liar told labor that if they didn't, American would file   
   > bankruptcy and they would all be left to the perils of a bankruptcy judge   
   > who would more than likely put them out of a job. All the while,   
   > Carty-the-liar was secretly stuffing the pockets of the executive level   
   > corporate elite, who all knew about it, and no doubt were sitting back   
   > having a hefty chuckle at how stupid labor was for falling sucker to the   
   > plan. Carty-the-liar stepped down in mock shame, and Arpey stepped up,   
   > Arpey, who was in on, and benefited from the pocket stuffing. Nothing has   
   > changed, the pockets are still being filled, and million dollar golden   
   > parachute pensions are still in tact yet the same people who put AA in   
   such   
   > horrible shape are STILL in control. Nothing has changed except labor has   
   > been kicked in the balls delivered on a wing-tipped foot with a macabre   
   > laugh.   
   >   
   > Once the shield was removed from the truth of what Carty-the-liar had   
   done,   
   > no one rushed to fix it, they decided instead to deliver even more blows   
   to   
   > the labor force. Now, and it's no secret, the company has handed labor a   
   > stripped down health care plan that has, among many other things, more   
   than   
   > doubled and in some instances tripled the cost of their medications. With   
   > indifference to numerous complaints, the company has saddled labor yet   
   again   
   > with another year of poor service from the prescription plan through Medco   
   > Health, a company fraught with bad management and charged with fraud by   
   > authorities who cite that the company routinely falsified records and made   
   > false statements, alleging that Medco Health destroyed prescriptions to   
   > avoid penalties for slowness in processing orders, put too few pills in   
   > bottles and improperly switched patients' medicines. Yet a company like   
   that   
   > is good enough for AMR's labor force - or so obviously believes AMR.   
   >   
   > On top of the health care benefit farce, the company is currently in the   
   > process of holding "focus group meetings" where carefully hand picked   
   > "representatives" of agent groups throughout the company's various   
   stations   
   > are being brought to Dallas to "vote" on making changes to the agent's   
   > seniority status. The key being, that the company is looking for a way to   
   > strip long term seniority away from those highest/max paid agents in order   
   > to up them frightfully higher toward the top of the list of those eligible   
   > for furlough, while junior agents who haven't moved anywhere in the   
   company   
   > yet, but are at low pay scales, will end up out ranking, seniority wise,   
   > long term agents upon whose backs the company was built. Can you smell it?   
   > Wait for it . . . . here it comes . . . .and to top it all off, AMR is   
   > investing HEAVILY into one-stop machines to bolster up an already in the   
   > works plan (the focus groups are a front in my opinion) to make   
   astronomical   
   > cuts in the non unionized agent work force and replace them with one-stop   
   > machines - every intent is to "automate the customer" through kiosks and   
   an   
   > internet website that most of the time is so slow it more than likely   
   chases   
   > away as many customers as it hooks. You'll end up with one agent per gate   
   > and no gate check-in capability. You'll be directed to a one stop machine   
   > for all your needs from check in, to seat assignments, flight changes,   
   > voucher issues for voluntary and involuntary seat forfeits, meal and hotel   
   > vouchers for misconnects and flight cancellations and more and if the   
      
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