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American Morning
Minding Your Business: AA in the Clear! Not so Fast
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn the corner now quickly. American Airlines isnt in the clear yet.
And here with the story is Andy Serwer, who is "Minding Your Business."
And, I mean, this is -- they're getting an apology...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
COLLINS: ... from the managers, right?
SERWER: Right, from the CEO, that's right.
COLLINS: The flight attendants, but is that good enough?
SERWER: I don't know if it is, Heidi. I'll tell you something. This is a corporate soap opera if there ever has been. I mean, American Airlines is trying to avert bankruptcy. Remember, they got all of those concessions from the three unions. Then late last week, we found out there was a secret pension and bonus plan for the top executives.
Over the weekend, the CEO, Don Carty, apologizing and saying: "My mistake was failing to explicitly describe these retention benefits, and because of that, many employees felt they were kept in the dark. Please know it was never my intention to mislead you. I offer my sincere apology."
They also got rid of one of those bonus plans.
Now, what's happening this morning, though, is the flight attendants are saying, now, wait a minute. That really makes our vote null and void. We're going to go back and vote again.
COLLINS: Right.
SERWER: Now, does that sound familiar to you?
COLLINS: It sounds familiar, yes.
SERWER: Because they've already voted twice before.
COLLINS: Right. And how many votes can they actually take? I mean, this could go on forever until they get the intended outcome?
SERWER: Well, that's right. I mean, it certainly reminds me of the Turkish parliament. How many times can you vote here, people? I mean, the first time they said, we had problems voting. The second time they said, we didn't have enough information. Now, they're saying, the vote is no good because you guys had this bonus plan that we didn't know about.
So, you know, you start to lose a little credibility here if you keep going back and back and back and forth.
COLLINS: Right.
SERWER: On the other hand, I can understand their anger. And I'll tell you something. I think Mr. Carty, the CEO of American Airlines, is in trouble here, because he is really losing credibility with not only the union members, but also possibly the American public.
COLLINS: As far as the votes go, maybe there's a hanging chad or two in there.
SERWER: Don't even start that. I mean, who knows?
COLLINS: Who knows?
SERWER: Right.
COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, thanks so much.
SERWER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn the corner now quickly. American Airlines isnt in the clear yet.
And here with the story is Andy Serwer, who is "Minding Your Business."
And, I mean, this is -- they're getting an apology...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
COLLINS: ... from the managers, right?
SERWER: Right, from the CEO, that's right.
COLLINS: The flight attendants, but is that good enough?
SERWER: I don't know if it is, Heidi. I'll tell you something. This is a corporate soap opera if there ever has been. I mean, American Airlines is trying to avert bankruptcy. Remember, they got all of those concessions from the three unions. Then late last week, we found out there was a secret pension and bonus plan for the top executives.
Over the weekend, the CEO, Don Carty, apologizing and saying: "My mistake was failing to explicitly describe these retention benefits, and because of that, many employees felt they were kept in the dark. Please know it was never my intention to mislead you. I offer my sincere apology."
They also got rid of one of those bonus plans.
Now, what's happening this morning, though, is the flight attendants are saying, now, wait a minute. That really makes our vote null and void. We're going to go back and vote again.
COLLINS: Right.
SERWER: Now, does that sound familiar to you?
COLLINS: It sounds familiar, yes.
SERWER: Because they've already voted twice before.
COLLINS: Right. And how many votes can they actually take? I mean, this could go on forever until they get the intended outcome?
SERWER: Well, that's right. I mean, it certainly reminds me of the Turkish parliament. How many times can you vote here, people? I mean, the first time they said, we had problems voting. The second time they said, we didn't have enough information. Now, they're saying, the vote is no good because you guys had this bonus plan that we didn't know about.
So, you know, you start to lose a little credibility here if you keep going back and back and back and forth.
COLLINS: Right.
SERWER: On the other hand, I can understand their anger. And I'll tell you something. I think Mr. Carty, the CEO of American Airlines, is in trouble here, because he is really losing credibility with not only the union members, but also possibly the American public.
COLLINS: As far as the votes go, maybe there's a hanging chad or two in there.
SERWER: Don't even start that. I mean, who knows?
COLLINS: Who knows?
SERWER: Right.
COLLINS: All right, Andy Serwer, thanks so much.
SERWER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
