The following link will take you to one of the more impartial articles written about Air Canada since CCAA.
Captain Andy Wilson former President of ACPA is quoted on how he saw this unfolding from the confiscation of close to five billion dollars in equity from the company to its complications today.
Suffice to say this story will retold by historians in the future and history will be the final arbitrator of this narrative.
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/ ... ir-canada/
Financial Post on Air Canada
Moderators: lilfssister, North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, I WAS Birddog
-
CanadianEh
- Rank 7
- Posts: 564
- Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:00 pm
- Location: YYZ
Re: Financial Post on Air Canada
The whole ordeal was/is utterly nauseating. People who blame the Unions for Air Canada's financial problems have their heads up their ass. Milton and his cronies destroyed an iconic Canadian company and now the employees are finally taking a stand and saying enough is enough. I would never agree to concessions when my sacrifice translates to huge payouts for ACE shareholders and Milton instead of being used to help the company. Milton should go to jail.
Re: Financial Post on Air Canada
You are quite right. Many of those asses with heads up them are regulars on this site. It's painful to watch the misinformed spouting off and likely confusing many who may not have the background or the context of this nauseating saga. This has been a most egregious case of corporate kleptomania and it continues....CanadianEh wrote:The whole ordeal was/is utterly nauseating. People who blame the Unions for Air Canada's financial problems have their heads up their ass.
-
Mechanic787
- Rank 3
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:38 pm
Re: Financial Post on Air Canada
Two can play the airline bankruptcy game
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... ml?hpid=z4
Over the past decade, major airlines have figured out how to use the bankruptcy code to accomplish what they have never been able to at the bargaining table: reduce wages and benefits to “market” levels.
Back in the days when fares and routes were regulated by the government and compensation was effectively set in an industry-wide pattern, there wasn’t much incentive for airlines to resist above-market wages, gold-plated benefits and inflexible work rules. And even after the industry was deregulated and the major carriers faced competition from lower-cost, non-union upstarts, the threat of a crippling strike gave the airline unions the upper hand in contract negotiations.
Bankruptcy has changed all that. Suddenly, airline executives discovered a way to unilaterally abrogate their labor agreements, fire thousands of employees and impose less generous pay and more flexible work rules. Indeed, the technique proved so effective that several airlines went through the process several times. The unions’ strike threat was effectively neutralized.
All of which makes what is happening at American Airlines deliciously ironic. Late last year, American finally decided to join the rest of the industry and make its first pass through the bankruptcy reorganization process after failing to reach agreement on a new concessionary contract with its pilots’ union.
The company hoped to win speedy court approval for a plan to eliminate 13,000 positions, reducing benefits to current employees and retirees and reforming work rules that have made American’s productivity the lowest in the industry. Instead, the unions did an end run and struck new labor agreements with US Airways, which will use it as the basis for launching a bid to buy its larger rival out of bankruptcy.
If the gambit succeeds, the unions will not only wind up with more jobs and higher pay than American was offering, but also the satisfaction of seeing American’s top executives tossed out on the street. ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... ml?hpid=z4
Over the past decade, major airlines have figured out how to use the bankruptcy code to accomplish what they have never been able to at the bargaining table: reduce wages and benefits to “market” levels.
Back in the days when fares and routes were regulated by the government and compensation was effectively set in an industry-wide pattern, there wasn’t much incentive for airlines to resist above-market wages, gold-plated benefits and inflexible work rules. And even after the industry was deregulated and the major carriers faced competition from lower-cost, non-union upstarts, the threat of a crippling strike gave the airline unions the upper hand in contract negotiations.
Bankruptcy has changed all that. Suddenly, airline executives discovered a way to unilaterally abrogate their labor agreements, fire thousands of employees and impose less generous pay and more flexible work rules. Indeed, the technique proved so effective that several airlines went through the process several times. The unions’ strike threat was effectively neutralized.
All of which makes what is happening at American Airlines deliciously ironic. Late last year, American finally decided to join the rest of the industry and make its first pass through the bankruptcy reorganization process after failing to reach agreement on a new concessionary contract with its pilots’ union.
The company hoped to win speedy court approval for a plan to eliminate 13,000 positions, reducing benefits to current employees and retirees and reforming work rules that have made American’s productivity the lowest in the industry. Instead, the unions did an end run and struck new labor agreements with US Airways, which will use it as the basis for launching a bid to buy its larger rival out of bankruptcy.
If the gambit succeeds, the unions will not only wind up with more jobs and higher pay than American was offering, but also the satisfaction of seeing American’s top executives tossed out on the street. ...
Re: Financial Post on Air Canada
Purely to play devil's advocate. I'm not that familiar with the details. Didn't Milton just tell the initial investors that if they invested to get AC out of CCAA, he'd break up the company and give them all plump cash payouts in short order by breaking up the company? After Victor Li walked, where was the capitalization to come from? If Milton hadn't done what he did wouldn't AC have liquidated at that time?CanadianEh wrote:The whole ordeal was/is utterly nauseating. People who blame the Unions for Air Canada's financial problems have their heads up their ass. Milton and his cronies destroyed an iconic Canadian company and now the employees are finally taking a stand and saying enough is enough. I would never agree to concessions when my sacrifice translates to huge payouts for ACE shareholders and Milton instead of being used to help the company. Milton should go to jail.
