Getting My MBA at 48

My First Snow, Anchorage Alaska

Arriving late, because of flight delays in Phoenix because of high winds. We got into Anchorage an hour late, and it was snowing outside.

So it is my first snow fall of the year, though it really wasn’t sticking it was cool to see. They say it will be snowing again tonight, cool.

I got a great view from the hotel, and it is nice to study  in the change. We don’t leave till 2:00 a.m. so I got a few more hours to get some reading done.

The big news of the day is they are “rightsizing” our airline, closing 3 crew bases, and focusing on 4 cities 3 hubs and 1 focus city.

Like most people, we don’t know the whole story (what happens in the executives offices), but, the way they are “rightsizing” it looks like they are aligning themselves to be smaller, trying to make a profit, an setting themselves up for another merger.

I am betting a merger is and has been in the works. In the same article I was reading it talked that American was reducing and focusing on 4 hubs. If you over-lay our hubs and theirs it puts 4 hubs and 1 focus city on the East coast, 2 hubs Midwest and 1 on the West coast. It is just an option but it does make a nicer fit than before the reductions.

In my classes I have learned a lot of what CEO look at, haven’t got to accounting it is the next class. Yet there are a lot of things in Operations Management, and Strategic Management that I can see the company doing. Though they drop the ball on two groups pilots and flight attendants, they underestimated cultures differences, 4 years and running and no contract between either group.

I think the company is waiting till after December, for the appellant court decision and finishing the flight attendant contract at the first of the year. Then I think we will see a merger.

Maybe even United, but who knows. I do have one problem with all of this …

As soon as the reduction was announced and 1000 people losing their jobs the stock price went up 9%. Ok that is just crazy, that people who buy stock think it is great that losing jobs is a reason to buy stock.

I understand about the reorganization but…

Tags: Alaska, American, appellant court, delays, flight attendant, flights, flying, hubs, mergers, online university, snow, studying