American renting a car in hawaii Airlines, once the largest airline in the United States, declared bankruptcy. This is not surprising news for the beleaguered airline industry; what is different is what is emerging from the wreckage. Gerard J. Arpey, American's chief executive officer and chairman, resigned and stepped away with no severance package and nearly worthless stock holdings. He split with his employer of 30 years out of a belief that bankruptcy was morally wrong, and that he could not, in good conscience, lead an organization that followed this familiar path.
We should celebrate Mr. Arpey s choice. He upheld the moral high ground that the company should pay its debtors and retiree benefits while the rest of the board made the immoral decision to file for bankruptcy as an easy way out because everyone renting a car in hawaii else is doing it .
I also found it interesting that American Airlines renting a car in hawaii is calling it a retirement while the New York Times is reporting it as resigning because he thought the board was morally wrong. I wonder which is the truth?
Hint: The company who declared bankruptcy in order to get away from paying their debts might just be protecting their behind from Wall Street while the guy who quit because he thought renting a car in hawaii that was wrong is likely telling the truth.
On top of that Arpey didn t hold the board hostage by taking a massive golden parachute. (In fairness, renting a car in hawaii I have no doubt that with 30 years of service and having made $14.34 million in the last 5 years , that Mr. Arpey is hitting the bread line any time soon.) He just said You know what? If you make this move you are making it without me .
I read once that the law for publicly held corporations requires them to make the best choices for the stockholder (i.e., value of the stock). So, if a choice is immoral, but technically legal and will help the company s bottom renting a car in hawaii line, the board and leaders are required to make that immoral choice or face the potential of lawsuits from their shareholders. If that s true (sorry I don t have a reference…I know…awful), then we ve set ourselves up for failure as a society. Our allegiance is to the dollar, to the profit; not to what s right, good or morally valuable.
Great question. Follow that link and you ll see the details of both what he made and what the company made year to year. (His base salary was a little over $1 million) You ll also see how he ranked renting a car in hawaii like 478 or something among U.S. CEOs so I think his salary was actually pretty low compared to people in comparable positions.
If we had a decent economy where families could afford to take a vacation now and then, American Airlines as well as all of the other airlines would be very profitable. The lack of demand for airline tickets is the result of a declining middle class that can no longer afford to fly. Now the employees of American will join the downward spiral that they tried to prevent by already making huge concessions in pay and working conditions. I am a retired United Pilot, and I would no longer encourage anyone to seek to join that profession, something that I never thought that I would say.
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