A few days ago, the news came out that an airline (ATA) had just randomly one morning woken up and canceled all their flights, released all their employees and pretty much vanished from existence.

Let’s make a list of all the people the CEO screwed over because he was too much of a “wussey” to step and do this the right way…

1. Left THOUSANDS of passengers stranded.
2. All the people who were expecting those passengers (whether for a birthday party or a critical business meeting - thanks ATA).
3. Their OWN employees - no notice, no income - nothing.
4. Their partners - Southwest is a route sharing partner and had no idea, they were left blind-sided and had to scramble to cover the slack.
5. Airport officials - Can you imagine what the stranded passengers did to these people?
…the list goes on.

I know that I’m probably making it sound easier than it is, but I don’t care if you lose your pants (literally) - for a company this big, you see it coming. A fear of investors and your “reputation” can NEVER lead you to “screw over” those very people who are loyal to you and depend on you.

I want to apologize for my tone here, but I’m fuming upset since I read this…how can anyone be so irresponsible and selfish?

Some of the employees didn’t even find out from their bosses, they heard it on the NEWS or from a family friend who heard it on the news.

Well, This DID Present An Opportunity For Southwest…

As tough as this was on Southwest, it presented a serious opportunity for the airline. Southwest scrambled last minute and did everything they could to pick up the slack of their ex-partner. You think those stranded passengers may fly Southwest next time? You bet your 2 cheeks they will.

Hats off to you Southwest - stepping up to solve a problem that truly isn’t even yours, it’s admirable and it’s how a customer should be treated.

ATA - I never flew you, I never cared and never knew what you were and now I’m da** glad of it. Going out of business is fine, it happens - doing it overnight and flicking off everyone around you is just jaw-dropping. 

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Tags: ata, bankruptcy

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Big Companies, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.