Continental started out as one of the smaller carriers in the United States, known for its limited operations under the regulated era that provided very fine, almost fancy . It may even be their most important job; Gordon and I certainly considered it our top priority. I believed the pilots were getting a fair deal, and I said so. [30][6], According to Rose, former French Concorde pilot Jean-Marie Chauve, and former Concorde flight engineer Michel Suaud, spent six months preparing a 60-page report which was submitted to the investigating judge. Moreover, pressure and fear often make managers do erratic, inconsistent, even irrational things. I was still with Bain, in the midst of my first assignment for Continental. Thats where our focus was, and its a good rule for any turnaround. The tires then exploded and tire rubber fragments penetrated Concorde's wing fuel tanks, starting fires in engines 1 and 2, leading to the crash which killed all aboard and four people on the ground. [59][60], Additional factors and alternative theories. Every turnaround involves cost reduction, and Continental was no exception. Pretty soon, we were unstoppable.. They were too busy trying to knock each other off. Now, strategic direction is always important, but I would make the case that it is particularly important during a turnaround. Of the 115 people on board, 38 sustained injuries, with 2 seriously injured, including the pilot. We have taken more than 200 calls per week in the three years the hotline has been open. Im from a little farming town in Kansas where hard work is a way of life. It was a hot, humid day in May 1993. Most companies that are in trouble, however, tend to develop a myopic focus on cost. The bomb exploded, breaking off the aircraft's tail, and the plane crashed on a farm near Unionville, Missouri. The flight's destination was also in Texas. I wanted to make things happen. Continental Airlines - Wikipedia EVA Air is the airline's main competitor. There had been so many over the past decade that theyd stopped keeping track. We promised them full control of their domains. Continental ranked tenth out of the ten largest U.S. airlines in all key customer-service areas as measured by the Department of Transportation: on-time arrivals, baggage handling, customer complaints, and involuntary denied boardings. I was thinking, Greg, this is one of those times in life when you step up to the plate or you chicken out. I had spent the last six years making recommendations that my clients sometimes took and sometimes ignored. Will you land short of your destination? The program didnt cost anything, but it added value to the customer. Clean house. In addition to changing when we served food, we also changed the food itself. Here are the lowest-priced Continental Airlines flight tickets from hundreds of providers. The airline is operating the Hong Kong route since 1967, and operates in 161 destinations in 29 countries/districts, as of 31 DEC, 2018. The economy could have been in a downswing. For every month we finished in the top five out of ten airlines in on-time performance as measured by the DOT, we would give each employee $65. Talk about sending a message about who matters and who doesnt. For instance, wed ask the number two person in pricing at another airline to come run our pricing department. No, says British Airways", "Press release, 16 January 2002 Issue of the final report into the Concorde accident on 25 July 2000", "Concorde crash remains unresolved 10 years later", "Concorde crash 'a disaster waiting to happen', "New improved Concorde cleared for take-off", Perception of Risk in the Wake of the Concorde Accident, "Final Concorde flight lands at Heathrow", Iconic Concorde Could Return for 2012 Olympics, "Judge places Continental under investigation in Concorde crash", "Continental denies responsibility for crash as Concorde trial begins", "Concorde crash manslaughter trial begins in France", "Continental Airlines faces manslaughter charges over Paris Concorde crash", "Continental responsible for Concorde crash in 2000", "Concorde crash: Continental Airlines cleared by France court", "Paris Court Finds Continental Responsible for Concorde Crash", "French Court Overturns Convictions in Concorde Crash", Families mark 10 years since Concorde crash, Un mmorial pour les victimes du crash du Concorde La zone commerciale s'agrandit Participez au concours Pep's Star La mairie propose de parler de tout Dbattez du logement avec Marie-Nolle Lienemann, "The Concorde SST Web Site: History of the aircraft that would become Air France Flight 4590", "Synth-pop trio Le Couleur explore beauty through tragedy on Concorde", "Le Couleur Explore Death Through Dance on 'Concorde' | Exclaim! I said I was surprised; we had just finished negotiating the first pilots contract in 12 years, and it had been ratified by a large margin. Ill never know what possessed me to say that. But we knew we couldnt listen to everything the customers in seat 9C had to say. Every month, Gordon and I hold an open house where employees can ask us questions, and we publish a newspaper describing whats happening in the company. But who else was there volunteering to save Continental? To implement the plan immediately and in its entirety, we sold it to our coworkers with energetic zeal. All nine crew and 100 passengers on board were killed, as well as four people in the hotel. Its easy to make everyone happy when things are going well. Gordon and I met in February 1994. Add to that the fact that corporate headquarters was locked up like Fort Knox: the presidents secretary had a buzzer under her desk that she could use to summon the police. Join the millions of customers that have used Fly.com to find cheap plane tickets. We needed to create a culture at Continental where people liked coming to work. We set up a toll-free hotline that operates around the clock to handle employees suggestions. It is his or her responsibility to visit the city once per quarter to update employees, get their feedback, and fix their problems. . But those fixes were like trying to bail out the Titanic with a coffee can. You're even able to watch specific Continental Airlines flights. [28][35] As the plane was about to leave the tarmac, with the aircraft rotated for takeoff at a speed of only 188 knots, 11 knots under the minimum recommended velocity. This aircraft had previously been subject to an attempted hijacking to Cuba, although the hijackers were captured in El Paso, Texas. Since the costs of the aircraft and fuel were fixed, and costs such as food had already been cut, the only way to reduce costs was to take back wages from employees. It joined the Air France fleet full-time in 1980. Along with explaining the details of the closing and relocation plans, I also shared with them my vision for Continental and how far we had come. Our customers loved Continentals new look. In general, our communication policy changed from, Dont tell anybody anything unless absolutely required, to Tell everybody everything. [18][19], A few days after the crash, all Air France Concordes were grounded, pending an investigation into the cause of the crash and possible remedies. PDF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT - Aviation Safety There are no hidden fees, just the lowest fares and best value options for your trip. Continental Airlines CO Flight Status Tracker - Flightpedia [citation needed] That higher speed increased the risk of tyre burst during takeoff. When I look back now, I realize the biggest factor in our favor was momentum. Until the time came when we could offer them something great, I didnt want to promote a product that we couldnt deliver. It came pouring out above the center seat in the last row of coachdirectly onto my head. By the fall of 1994, Continental had blown much of the $766 million in cash that it had when it emerged from bankruptcy in April 1993. To involve our employees even more in the turnaround, we put up 650 bulletin boards throughout the system. It is the flag carrier of Republic of China with its headquarters in Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County. The airline is operating the Hong Kong route since 1967, and operates in 161 destinations in 29 countries/districts, as of 31 DEC, 2018. They may want food at 2:00 p.m., but they wont pay for it. Make Reliability a Reality was the product plan: we were going to transform the customers experience with us. Theres not much time to think when your company is failing, says Continentals president. . I took them through the current situation, what we were doing to fix it, and the help we needed from them. We knew that the two of us could not save Continental on our own. There was next to no strategy in place. One of our techniques was to find people who were in a number two position in their current job and ask them to join Continental in the number one spot. After a while, when it became apparent we were going nowhere, I got up to leave the room. Continental Airlines on Wednesday became the first U.S. commercial carrier to conduct a demonstration flight powered in part by alternative fuels, though large-scale use of such fuel is. Employees couldnt possibly know the entire contents of the book. In order to make up for these increased expenses, management cut costs further. Although I was a frequent flier with literally millions of miles racked up on other airlines, I had always avoided Continental because of its reputation for lousy service. Read more about this topic: Continental Airlines, An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.Walter Bagehot (18261877), We are the men of intrinsic value, who can strike our fortunes out of ourselves, whose worth is independent of accidents in life, or revolutions in government: we have heads to get money, and hearts to spend it.George Farquhar (16781707), 113 fatalities, No passengers killed on DC-10. Gruelingwithout a doubt. When AF4590 subsequently departed, Concorde's left main landing gear tires struck the strip of metal and were punctured. All airlines. In-Service Fleets carrying 89 aircraft, including 71 Passenger Jets/ 18 Freighters. Today the plan is in place across our entire system. We search Expedia, Orbitz and others for packages that can save you even more. Flight 603 was scheduled to Honolulu, HI from Los Angeles. . So when we let people go, we went out of our way to be fair by honoring their contracts and letting them resign with dignity. Four dogs back, the look and smell stays the same. Join the millions of customers that have used Fly.com to compare prices between hundreds of airfare providers. When you want real change, you cant do it partway. The Continental jet dropped a strip of titanium alloy from its thrust reverser on the runway during takeoff. Thats the kind of thing that happens when you let the inmates run the asylum. From. We needed to create an atmosphere where people liked coming to work. Section 2.2 "Crew Actions" (page 166): "The exceptional environment described above quite naturally led the FE to ask to shut down the engine. En route stops were planned at Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas. A pilot came to the microphone to express how incompetent he felt management was and how Continental was once again making the wrong decision. view 40 history. A couple of days later, I found myself in a room with our largest creditors. From the Magazine (SeptemberOctober 1998). Flight #. Please select OK to allow all cookies. The official investigation found Flight 55 caused the crash of Air France Concorde Flight 4590 in Paris. Calculated Risk: The crash of Continental Airlines flight 603 We made payroll on January 17 with the help of a $29 million wire transfer Gordon arranged from Boeing. [14], The crew was trying to divert to nearby ParisLe Bourget Airport, but accident investigators stated that a safe landing would have been highly unlikely, given the aircraft's flightpath. In my six-odd years of working on turnarounds at Bain, I had never seen a company as dysfunctional as Continental. Continental Airlines, also known as CAL was formed in 1959 by some retired Chinese Air Force officers in Taiwan. We dont implement all of the suggestionsId say about one in ten is implementedbut we take each one seriously. I had never seen a company as dysfunctional, writes the air carriers president. Rather than to take off from the other end of the runway to take off into the wind, no change in takeoff direction occurred. This was immediately confirmed by the Captain's calling for the engine fire procedure". At one point, it drifted toward a just-landed Air France Boeing 747 that was carrying then-French President Jacques Chirac (who was returning from the 26th G8 summit meeting in Okinawa, Japan). Continental Airlines flight 1760 was a scheduled domestic service that originated at the enormous George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, Texas. That made our customers late and angry and ruined the lives of our employees who had to work overtime because of tardy arrivals. [26], Despite the accident, Concorde was still considered among the world's safest aircraft. Continental Airlines - Cheap Flights - Fly.com Once youve rebuilt strong customer relationships, you can proceed to the next step: making better products theyll pay for. The aircraft descended at a rate which could not be overcome even though the aircraft was flown at or near its maximum lift capability throughout the encounter. The French appeals court, while overturning the criminal rulings by the Parisian court, affirmed the civil ruling and left Continental liable for the compensation claims. There were 37 injuries among the passengers and crew, and no fatalities. We didnt say to the patientif you can call a dying company thatNow, just hold on a while so we can run a lot of tests and then perhaps perform an extremely delicate 12-hour procedure. No, we just took out the scalpel and went to work. Damaged beyond economic repair when the propellers struck the runway shortly after take-off. Fly to Win was the airlines marketplace plan; Fund the Future was the financial plan; Make Reliability a Reality was the formula to improve the product; and Working Together was the blueprint for improving the companys culture. Continental Airlines Flight 1404 - WIKI 2 They created a model that works when you have little time and less moneyas well as when you have more of both. Once the damaged forward tank 5 began to lose fuel, the centre of gravity moved even further rearward. By the way, sending select material to the home is one of the smartest things you can do. Algae used in biofuel on U.S. jet test flight - NBC News In a turnaround situationor any business situation, for that matteryou cant afford to ask anything else. When we took over, you probably couldnt find a single employee, even among senior management, who could tell you the companys strategy. If Continental Airlines flies to your chosen destination, you'll be able to filter your results to just those operated by them. In fact, for 15 years, the way to get ahead at Continental was to torpedo someone and then take his or her job. We search 500+ sites to find you the cheapest flights. At the time, I was a partner specializing in corporate turnarounds in Bain & Companys Dallas office. If you fire people inhumanely, youll be left with a bunch of employees who dont trust the company or their coworkers. But funyes. The tough partlike in most turnaroundswas getting all that done fast, right away, and all at once. Please support this channel by following me on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/allecibayOn July 1, 1965 Continental Airlines Flight 12 overran the runway whil. The analysis of impact energy considered a tyre piece of 4.5 kilograms (9.9lb) with a speed around 140 metres per second (310mph). Flight 1713 bound for Boise, Idaho crashed on take-off during a snowstorm at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. CALite eliminated all food on its flights, and it also eliminated travel agent commissions and corporate discounts, which infuriated some very important customers. For more than 20 years Fly.com has been the leader in cheap airfare and discount ticket booking. Their strategy focused on understanding markets, improving products, increasing revenues, and infusing employees with the energy and power to transform Continentals corporate culture. Do it now! We lit a fire of urgency beneath Continental; we rotated quickly and picked up speed as we climbed to 41,000 feet. Maybe things were a bit dicey while it was happening, but it sure doesnt sound like brain surgery.. But my favorite measure is the sale of Continental logo merchandise at our company stores. But Continental had been cutting costs in ways that sabotaged its product. . Im not going to tell you that all the employees at Continental are empowered. We fly airplanes, after all. The Sabreliner descended from 1,000 feet (300 m), struck the ground, and was destroyed. Lots of statistics prove that fact, such as the huge reductions in turnover, sick leave, on-the-job injuries, and workers compensation claims. On Thanksgiving Day in 1994, I discovered that we were going to run out of cash on January 17, 1995paydayand no one even knew it. By the end of the call, however, they were usually appreciative that an officer of the company had taken the time to seek them out. Why dont we just charter you a Lear jet? When AF4590 subsequently departed, Concorde's left main landing gear tires struck the strip of metal and were punctured. Finally, probably to prevent a riot, the captain turned on the DC-9s auxiliary power unit. It was powered by four Rolls-Royce Olympus 593/610 turbojet engines, each of which was equipped with afterburners. Members of Continentals existing management team were not up to this challenge. I have never seen the team that managed a company into a crisis get it back on track. When in doubt, everyone knew it was advised just to let the customers fend for themselves. When we met, he said that the Greensboro pilots were not angry that we were closing the airportthey could see that there were no customers on the flights. They were just frustrated with 15 years of poor decisions and were taking it out on melike blaming your third wife for all of your problems with the first two. Neither qualified what was meant by "major U.S. airline.". The calls would often last half an hour or more. Couple fear strike by nurses . Ceased operations. Of course, the ride isnt over. Very quickly, we required the scheduling and operating departments to review and sign off on the flight schedules before they were loaded to be flown. They knew how to treat customers right, and we moved quickly to let them do just that. Let the inmates run the asylum. For more than 20 years Fly.com has been the leader in cheap flights and discount airline tickets. When peoples lives are at stake, certain rules and procedures are not open to interpretation or reinvention on a daily basis. We changed our meal service with an eye toward what our competitors were doing. The new image had an even bigger impact on our employees. New data released by Ipsos this morning has shown that around 55% of Britons expect the Tories to lose seats on Thursday, with 45% expecting Labour to pick up support. Live Continental Aviation Flight Status - FlightAware This was the only fatal accident of Concorde's entire career.[27]. Forgot the flight number? Continental Air Lines flight 54 was a service from Los Angeles, California, to Houston, Texas. The aircraft was a total loss. But it would have been dishonest to back down or to fudge a reaction of sympathy I did not feel.

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