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Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

virgin.com

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Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#11

Post by nodata »

geuis wrote: post #7

I haven't heard anything about the pilot strike mentioned in the article. That aside, I have the following to say which is oriented more towards flight attendants than the pilots whom you don't normally interact with. Of any airline I have ever traveled on, the Virgin lines (Atlantic and America), have been my favorite. This ranges from the very basic things like more leg room than their competitors to wifi in the sk…

In "Capitalism, A Love Story", Moore claims that new pilots average the same as a McDonalds low-level manager. If this is true, it would make Virgin pilots comparatively well paid.

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#12

Post by ErrantX »

Klinky wrote: post #10

It sounds like he's not really connected to the situation very well. He keeps deferring to management. "Management told me this", "Management showed me that.", "I can't speak with the union head, that's something management is better equipped to handle". I am not sure anyone would ever expect Branson to say anything other than the company line, that he agrees with managements offer. That he feels those who are striki…

> If I were a pilot, the last opinion I'd care about would be the eccentric billionaire CEO

One news stories I read said he became involved at the request of the pilot's union - so I guess they do care about it :)

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#13

Post by justincormack »

arkitaip wrote: post #8
iwwr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps because airlines are some of the worst performing businesses in the Western world.

Citation?

Pretty widely discussed that as a business it has never broken even as a whole. Eg http://www.johnkay.com/2005/09/27/airlines-and-the-canine-fe...

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#14

Post by jonnathanson »

joezydeco wrote: post #4

Why do my teeth grind whenever a CEO says "I know you're gonna be mad about salary cutbacks but, just to remind you, I'm not taking a salary."

It's patronizing PR pablum, I'll admit. But part of me thinks hey, at least it's the lesser of two evils (the other being the actual taking of a massive salary).

Even the least sophisticated Virgin employee is probably savvy enough to understand that Sir Richard doesn't need a salary, and that his enrichment from ownership of the company does not come from such. Accordingly, they probably understand that his "I'm not taking a salary" line rings a little hollow. Nevertheless, in their eyes, this is probably better than "I'm only taking $9 million base this year instead of the customary $15mm."

There are plenty of Founder-CEOs who do take hefty salaries on top of their equity stakes, even in lean years. By comparison, Richard Branson isn't necessarily a saint, but he's better than many.

As for whether or not he needed to call this out in his letter, I dunno. Decent PR move with probably little to no risk of blowback.

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#15

Post by Joakal »

ErrantX wrote: post #12
Klinky wrote: post #10

It sounds like he's not really connected to the situation very well. He keeps deferring to management. "Management told me this", "Management showed me that.", "I can't speak with the union head, that's something management is better equipped to handle". I am not sure anyone would ever expect Branson to say anything other than the company line, that he agrees with managements offer. That he feels those who are striki…

> If I were a pilot, the last opinion I'd care about would be the eccentric billionaire CEO One news stories I read said he became involved at the request of the pilot's union - so I guess they do care about it :)

It's also in the open letter that he was requested. He had also offer private meetings with not only the union but pilots as well.

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#16

Post by Klinky »

ErrantX wrote: post #12
Klinky wrote: post #10

It sounds like he's not really connected to the situation very well. He keeps deferring to management. "Management told me this", "Management showed me that.", "I can't speak with the union head, that's something management is better equipped to handle". I am not sure anyone would ever expect Branson to say anything other than the company line, that he agrees with managements offer. That he feels those who are striki…

> If I were a pilot, the last opinion I'd care about would be the eccentric billionaire CEO One news stories I read said he became involved at the request of the pilot's union - so I guess they do care about it :)

I think there's a bit of a difference writing an opinion piece on the blog vs going to a negotiating table with the union. Also the union management is not the pilots. They're there to engage the airline management & perhaps they thought asking for Branson might get more publicity or maybe he'd bring something new to the table. I am doubtful the pilots expected his opinion would differ much from management.

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#17

Post by geuis »

arkitaip wrote: post #8
iwwr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps because airlines are some of the worst performing businesses in the Western world.

Citation?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_bankruptcies_in_the_U...

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/01912607849...

http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2010/06/25/us-airlines...

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#18

Post by Klinky »

Joakal wrote: post #15
ErrantX wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I were a pilot, the last opinion I'd care about would be the eccentric billionaire CEO One news stories I read said he became involved at the request of the pilot's union - so I guess they do care about it :)

It's also in the open letter that he was requested. He had also offer private meetings with not only the union but pilots as well.

Your union representative also publicly asked to meet with me personally. I believe that would only cause more publicity which would further damage the airline and I am not best placed to deal with the details of the negotiation.

He has no plans to meet with the union. His personal meetings with pilots are probably more to brow beat & pressure them, instead of a gesture of goodwill.

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#19

Post by SocratesV »

Wonder if when times are better, pilots get good raises... But is there anything as "better times" for these kind of companies (as opposed to startups and other technology based ones) when it comes to prize their employees when management and shareholders take their millions from the profits? I would like to believe that there is...

Re: Richard Branson's open letter to all Virgin pilots

#20

Post by jrwoodruff »

jonnathanson wrote: post #14
joezydeco wrote: post #4

Why do my teeth grind whenever a CEO says "I know you're gonna be mad about salary cutbacks but, just to remind you, I'm not taking a salary."

It's patronizing PR pablum, I'll admit. But part of me thinks hey, at least it's the lesser of two evils (the other being the actual taking of a massive salary). Even the least sophisticated Virgin employee is probably savvy enough to understand that Sir Richard doesn't need a salary, and that his enrichment from ownership of the company does not come from such. Accordingly, they probably understand that his "I'm not…

The lesser of three evils - the third being the CEO getting a nice bonus for lowering 'operating costs' after slashing salaries and cutting staff.
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