April 21, 2004

Bottom of the seventh and Milton's gotta go

Regular readers know that I have little love or respect for Robert Milton, a man who was thrust into an bad situation some years ago and managed through sheer dint of incompetence to make it worse.

Let's take a look at his great strides:

  • He fought for and won -- at absurd cost -- Canadian Airlines. I once heard this about partnerships: you can't take two turkeys and make an eagle out of them.
  • He made a crappy labour situation no less crappy, or efficient.
  • He managed to further enrage his customer base -- and this one shows particular skill because Air Canada's passengers have long been seething about service quality and prices.
  • He took a monopoly and, acting like a monarch of Canadian aviation with the divine right of kings, and turned it into a competition (actually, in the big picture, for Canadian fliers, this isn't all so bad).
  • He put his focus so tightly on crushing any upstarts or potential competitors that he lost view of all the other problems.
  • Through all this he's managed to vapourize shareholder wealth, market position, and (potential) profitability.

So, in this article in the Globe & Mail today, there's this snip:
Karl Moore, a business professor at McGill University, said the numbers suggest Air Canada's business model isn't working.

"You would think that if you're going to lose market share, your profitability should go up. They're losing on both counts."


I'm not an Air Canada investor, merely an infrequent flier. But, maybe it's time to hand over the ball, son. Your work here is done.

Posted by Grayson at April 21, 2004 07:49 AM
Comments

Robert A. Milton
President and CEO: Air Canada
Air Canada Centre,
7373 Côte-Vertu Blvd. West
Saint-Laurent,
Quebec H4Y 1H4

22 May 2004

Dear Mr Milton

Amid all the troubles Air Canada has these days I thought I should write you a cheery note to relate a very pleasant experience I had with Air Canada last September when I visited England. The evening flight to London was good but the return flight was memorable for the friendly helpfulness of staff, beginning at the check-in attendant to the last goodbyes from smiling and appreciative disembarking passengers in Toronto.

The return flight was memorable for the healthy, friendly, cheerfulness in the cabin made so by a great crew. The absence of this important quality was the reason I switched my allegiance away from Air Canada back in the late 70’s.

From that time, whenever business or pleasure required flying, I always directed ticket purchases from WardAir and CP/Canadian Airlines among the Canadian carriers. Crews of these airlines had none of the snotty, indifferent arrogance of Air Canada staff whether on the ground or in the air.

So, late as this letter is, I write to say how much I enjoyed my journey with Air Canada last September. During the crew break toward the end of the flight I found out the reason for the remarkable cheerful friendliness was that beneath the Air Canada uniform the entire cabin crew were x-Canadian Airlines staff.

You should hire more positive-minded professionals who genuinely like people and who really enjoy their work – as this crew memorably demonstrated.
What a pleasant and welcome change!

Good luck!

Sincerely


Gordon Willson
President
Gordon Willson & Associates Exhibition Planners and Designers Limited
455 Whitevale Road, Suite 1010
Whitevale Ontario
LOH 1MO

Posted by: gordon WILLSON at May 21, 2004 02:44 PM

Nice. Kind of like "The Sixth Sense" -- didn't see the ending coming ;-)

Still Rob Milton isn't ex-Canadian . . . hmmmm. . . .

Posted by: TRDG at May 21, 2004 04:05 PM