Comments on: Would It Have Killed Them to Fly Commercial?

By: calkate

calkate — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:45:12 +0000

Ahh, FlownOver - don't you see? We are jumping on the jet issue because we also don't think they should be earning 10K an hour. It is merely the easily visible tip of the iceberg, and if they had any clue at all, they would have kept it submerged. But they are so sheltered from reality that they really don't have a clue...

By: FlownOver

FlownOver — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:10:03 +0000

Further on the dubious economy of flying commercial: . These guys are getting paid (I won't say "earning") somewhere north of $10K per hour. Going through security alone would more than double the cost of commercial travel. . And if they'd flown commercial, how much would the amortized cost of an idle corporate jet come to? Maybe these "titans of obsolescence" shouldn't have their jets, but if they're already in the hangar… . And again, if the ultimate effect is to negate union contracts (under Chapter 11, per Mittens) that pay good wages to Joe the Transmission Assemblyman, won't we all feel great about teaching those greedy corner-office guys a lesson?

By: susieqa2

susieqa2 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:49:17 +0000

Fact - round trip Detroit to Washington Reagan Airport in the lowest available first class fare on nonstop flights - $1379.00. And they spend HOW much on private jets? It is ludicrous to ask for money when you are wasting so much on frivolities. Not that I want them to fail - I live in Southeastern Michigan. But c'mon guys get real!

By: wvng

wvng — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:26:35 +0000

Sort related. Josh Marshall says we Need a Catchphrase" . In our new economic era, I think we need a new catchphrase for CEOs like Mark Whittle of the South Financial Group, who pushed up his retirement ahead of schedule so he could bag his mega-Golden parachute a few weeks before he sent his company hat in hand to the government for bailout funds. . Total bailout for Whittle's company: $347 million. Total parachute for Whittle: $18 million. . Seriously, what's the catchphrase? Because I think we're going to see a lot of this. "

By: newfloridian

newfloridian — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:55:44 +0000

By the way why arre we so focused on a non issue like corporate jets.
Kind of silly. I've been on a few. Believe it or not a coporate jet has space to work and that's what usually happens. A commercial jet nothing. Why pay one of these guys thousands of dollars an hour to just sit in a tiny seat and do nothing? This is a non issue probably started by Drudge or Linbaugh and we are all falling for it just like usual.

By: newfloridian

newfloridian — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:51:35 +0000

Hey all you with GM products. Prepare for the future, go out to the junk yard find a nice same model auto with minimal damage and then buy it and have it hauled to your backyard. No you won't look like a redneck even if you put it up on blocks and strew beer cans all around.
Then sit and wait..

If GM goes out of business so will many of their suppliers, thus GM parts will be very difficult to get... in just a few months. The parts will also be expensive.. Think.... concert tickets are expensive because of all the ticket sellers on ebay and ticket sites.... well the good old American capitalist system will figure out GM car parts are gold. And will be priced accordingly. At least you will have a spare car for parts and can keep driving your GM car for a few years... because in the depression no one will be able to afford a new car from anyone. You will drive like a king by all those GM and other model US cars sitting by the side of the road because no one can either get the parts or afford to get the parts to repair their American car.

But don't worry if your car dies and you can not get to work or have no job.. there is a solution... Senator Shelby of Alabama says unemployed workers taste just like chicken. Republicans finally will stop eating their own and turn on the unemployed.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:07:09 +0000

"Would it have killed them to fly commercial?"
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Could they have found a more effective way to say "Hell no. It will be business as usual. Give us the money. Or we'll fire everybody, and everybody who supplies us."

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:26:15 +0000

I liked what the Chrysler ceo said about his salary...$1.00 a year.
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But he rode the corporate jet? What this usually means is he took his compensation in stock options, and kept all of the perqs-car, driver etc.
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It's hard to figure out this stuff. On the one hand, an effective hands-on CEO really shouldn't have to waste any time on transit. If he really is working an effective 10 hours a day, then his time is worth a car, a driver, a plane. On the other hand, an effective hands-off CEO doesn't need that stuff, because he's working a 6 hour day. Both systems work, and I tend to prefer the latter.
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And then there are the CEOs who could easily be replaced by someone making a tenth as much money with no perqs. In most companies, it is not that difficult a job. And the part that is difficult often involves sheer guesswork about the direction of a marketplace or the success of a product line. Or the effectiveness of a division head.

But if all the top quintile salaries were cut by a quarter, and all the 10 percent by half, the company could operate just fine. People would leave, but other people would come.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:17:55 +0000

It's not just the union workers, even if that were a valid concern. What's going to happen to all the pensioners when chapter 11 "re-structures" the debt and all those people are dumped from the rolls with either a significantly reduced, or, more likely, non-existent retirement? That's the heart of the problem. The stockholders and management decided to defer costs, and offered benefits in the future in lieu of wages, and then failed to provide adequate funding for those future benefits. They made a deal with the workers to forego current income in exchange for future benefits, but are now saying they can't pay. Homeowners in situations like this are treated like dirt, stripped of their asset by the sheriff. Credit card holders find their personal assets seized. The idea that taxpayers will give money to owners and management of these companies is appalling. The first contribution to the nationalization plan is to strip them of all their personal assets, as well as their stocks, and put it into the nationalization fund.

By: dvdcnl

dvdcnl — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:25:44 +0000

I was an union pipefitter before retiring and can remember times when the local union cut wages and benefits to enable the union contractors to be competitive against non union companies. I don't see why the UAW can't do the same; although they should make sure management took cuts also. I liked what the Chrysler ceo said about his salary...$1.00 a year. That's what Iaacoca took when Chrysler was in bad shape years ago. Gm and Ford's ceo said they would keep their millions. Someone answer this: What does someone do with all that money? My highest earnings for one year was $50k and I thought I was living the life of Riley with so much money. Most of my working years I made around $30k or less a year.