PNCL Files Chapter 11

[LaserRacer]

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. COO John Spanjers to Succeed Sean Menke as CEO Effective June 1

MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Pinnacle Airlines Corp. today announced a leadership transition under which John Spanjers, currently chief operating officer of the company, will succeed Sean Menke as chief executive officer, effective June 1, 2012. Spanjers has been COO at Pinnacle since September 2011, and was president of Mesaba Aviation prior to joining Pinnacle.
Menke has chosen to resign from the company on June 1 and will work closely with Spanjers and the other members of Pinnacle's leadership team to support a seamless transition over the next five weeks. Pinnacle does not anticipate this transition will impact the timeline of the company's Chapter 11 proceedings or Pinnacle's ability to successfully restructure and emerge from Chapter 11.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pi...sean-menke-as-ceo-effective-june-1-2012-04-19

Good riddance... He takes a pay raise then STILL resigns. Probably not a good sign though.

 

[jtrain609]

Nobody at that level of management resigns, they're fired while being given the choice to resign prior to the termination.

 

[LaserRacer]

Fired by who? The same board that gave him an obscene raise a few weeks ago?

 

[jtrain609]

Fired by who? The same board that gave him an obscene raise a few weeks ago?

Stranger things have happened.

 

[kellwolf]

Nobody at that level of management resigns, they're fired while being given the choice to resign prior to the termination.

In this case, I tend to think he left of his own accord. The reason the BOD tossed the huge pay raise his way was an incentive to keep him on due to his experience with Frontier and the bankruptcy there. The big question is.....what kind of golden parachute is he taking with him?

 

[jtrain609]

In this case, I tend to think he left of his own accord. The reason the BOD tossed the huge pay raise his way was an incentive to keep him on due to his experience with Frontier and the bankruptcy there. The big question is.....what kind of golden parachute is he taking with him?

If you're right, then the bigger question is what has he seen that has made him concerned that he can't pull this off, and thus would rather punch out than try to make it work. Did he see something that made him think, "There's no way ANYBODY can save this company, I'm out!"

I hope you're wrong and the board simply didn't like him.

 

[Adler]

Remember, it was really [sniff] tough on his family.

 

[kellwolf]

Remember, it was really [sniff] tough on his family.

God. I know. For those that aren't in the know, he said (through tears) on the conference call that he accepted the raise because the bankruptcy added extra stress and anxiety, making it hard on his family. Really? It's adding stress and anxiety to my family, too. Where's my 60% pay bump?

The only reason I can think of the board kicking him out would be the backlash from the employee group from the pay raise. It's generated a LOT of hostility. Two problems with that 1) The BOD has never been in touch with the thoughts, feelings or morale on the front lines of the operation. Not sure why they would miraculously find themselves in the know now. 2) Spanjers took a pay increase, too, so that means they'd be ditching one guy and putting someone that did the same thing in his spot.

 

[SmitteyB]

Sean was a good leader. It's sad that we couldn't hold on to someone like that.

I don't think Sean wanted to be around for what Delta plans on doing. Driving regional costs down via Bankruptcy to get more efficient, lean, CHEAP feed.

We will come out of bankruptcy as a wholly owned of Delta. Mark my words.

 

[kellwolf]

We will come out of bankruptcy as a wholly owned of Delta. Mark my words.

Kinda what I was thinking. I've had several people asking me "Can we change the name to Mesaba now?" Well, we might as well. This is pretty much what NWA did to them. Beat them down, buy them in bankruptcy, then sell them off later.

 

[Firebird2XC]

Sean was a good leader. It's sad that we couldn't hold on to someone like that.

I don't think Sean wanted to be around for what Delta plans on doing. Driving regional costs down via Bankruptcy to get more efficient, lean, CHEAP feed.

We will come out of bankruptcy as a wholly owned of Delta. Mark my words.

Why would Delta do that? What's the incentive to own all that potential risk and liability when you can just contract out for it?

 

[SmitteyB]

To control the market for contract feed. Lower costs- now you can go tell your Skywests to get in shape because their costs are "not competitive".

Then spin them off for huge profit. Who is the winner? DELTA. Every scenario they win. Employees lose.

 

[B767]

How can the "Skywests" get in shape for DAL/UAL (this Skywests includes RAH too, whom does flying for both carriers as well), when both Chip Child's and BB have been quoted saying mainline has to be prepared for increased costs in the contracts. They also said that the race to the bottom is bleeding them dry, which Menke said as well.

 

[SmitteyB]

Think how much 50 seat feed is up soon. There is a lot of feed that will be up for bid. That is what Delta wants cost control for.

These are just my ideas. That is all.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

It does fit the old NWA model, which Anderson was a part of for many years.

 

[kellwolf]

Why would Delta do that? What's the incentive to own all that potential risk and liability when you can just contract out for it?

Wholly owneds don't have CPAs. Look at Comair. They can park 50 seaters on a whim over there. Same with the Mesaba airplanes prior to the sale to Pinnacle. Delta can make a condition of the purchase a cancellation of the agreement on the airplanes, then they can reduce more 50 seater feed without dealing with nasty things like contracts and penalties.