Quipper, No. 4 "Holiday Edition", December 1981

              tapper
HOLIDAY	EDIT
NO. 4
NOVr DEC. ’81
A 10% VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
The Eig Boys, Acker and Waltrip, sent out a letter to ail fellow" employees just before Halloween ("trick or treat?"), thanking the "vast majority" of us for "voluntarily" accepting the wage cut and wage freeze, Of course, Flight Service hasn't gotten in on the "sweep's takes" yet, lacking a contract (ah, the wisdom of the IUFA* the longer the contract is in negotiation, the later we get hit with a 10# pay decrease)} but we're certain most flight attendants were happy to receive the premature thank-you, in spite of its irrelevance. It's good to know that our anticipated salary reduction will help pay for copying and mailing this, and similar, Corporate communiques.
But back to the letter at hand (if you haven't already thrown it out).... The Bosses rightfully point out that the spirit of sacrifice,implied by the acceptance of the pay cut, should make us all proud. However, they proceed to conclude that this action represents "a vote of confidence in your Company and in your Management." Granted, everyone has high hopes for Mr. C. Edward Acker, but Pan Am management in general is hopeless. It's time for a massive overhaul.
We're working for a company that is presented to students at the Harvard School of Business as a classic example of mismanagement. We've got Vice-Presidents sitting in offices in the (former) Pan Am Building, sipping coffee and brandy, and swinging big deals for their relatives* convention business to hotel owning cousins in Florida; the ultra-fast sale of the Inter-Continental Hotel Corporation, with accompanying lucrative kickback Under Seawell, these guys had priority over full revenue passengers for seats in first class!
Anyone anywhere near the top at Pan Am knows that the way to advance in this Corporation is not by doing quality work; one advances by collecting sufficient dirt on one's superiors to be considered dangerous, hence* "worthy" of promotion. No wonder they call them "vice" Presidents! No wonder this is the world's fastest receding airline!
We want "honesty" to be introduced as a theme for the Acker regime. Send those Vice-Presidents to the Economy (iei "Outclassed" or, in case of Delhi flight* "Out-caste") Section of the aircraft, give them a chicken dinner, and require them to read the article in the November Psychology Today concerning "Honesty as an Organizational Policy" (page 50). The article concludes that when the people at the top are trustworthy, the quality prevails among employees throughout the organization. This is not a new concept. Actually, it is pure- Confucius; whereas, what we've got right now is pure confusion* we don't trust our Vice-Presidents, consequently our Pursers aren't trusted either.
If this airline is to survive, it will do so because^its employees believe in it. We'd like to end this item on a positive note, with something soulful like* "Keep the Faith." But there is no faith to 'be # kept at this point. Sorry, C.E.. Perhaps "Find the Faith" is a way to begin.