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The Economy

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TigerVols, May 14, 2020.

Page 164 of 465
  1. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    $3.39 last night (and that's for 85). It was below $3 just after Christmas.
     
    MileHigh, Jan 14, 2023
    #1957
  2. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    2.86 or so a couple of days ago here.
     
    Neutral Corner, Jan 14, 2023
    #1958
  3. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Seems like prices are inching up. I filled up for $2.95/gallon tonight when you factored in points and those things. Lowest I see otherwise is $3.10. It’s silly, but it is a big psychological barrier.
     
    wicked, Jan 14, 2023
    #1959
  4. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    Diesel had made its way back down to a tick over $4 here, but now it’s back up to $4.99.
     
    FileNotFound, Jan 14, 2023
    #1960
  5. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    TigerVols, Jan 17, 2023
    #1961
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    They are right. But I find it simplistic to turn it into a "shareholder value" vs. "employees" narrative.

    To start, Herb Kelleher was an amazing visionary, and the model he visualized created one of the most admired companies on the planet while he was CEO. And shareholders were rewarded well. He built something from nothing and grew the company by something like 1700 percent during his tenure. So while he famously had a philosophy of emplowering employees, it's not like he was choosing between shareholders and employees. He was creating a successful business that was rewarding to both.

    That is the thing that changed. The company is struggling now under Robert Jordan (although most of this happened under Gary Kelly), and I don't think it is because he chose shareholders over employees (or vice versa). Things don't really work that way. It's that the business itself hasn't been as successful as it was under Kelleher. And as a result, both shareholders and employees are now suffering because the company itself is not as successful as it was.

    One big thing is that there wasn't much competition for what Kelleher was doing with the company, which will make almost anyone successful. But by the time Kelly took over, the airline industry had adapted to Southwest's business model, and in some cases competitors were flat out doing low-cost / hub and spoke better than Southwest. Which made continuing to grow Southwest difficult, and that is where they made bad decisions and mismanaged the company. Their strategy, simplistically, was to get bigger to benefit from economies of scale, but in the airline business it is key to control costs. And they made bad decisions in that regard that affected the quality of their airline. That doesn't benefit the employees or the shareholders (or the customers or anyone really).
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #1962
  7. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    And the reason you find it simplistic is because it is simplistic.
     
    doctorquant, Jan 17, 2023
    #1963
  8. garrow

    garrow Well-Known Member

     
    garrow, Jan 17, 2023
    #1964
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
    Azrael, Jan 17, 2023
    #1965
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #1966
  11. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    Southwest has long been the financial and political driver against HSR from Dallas to Houston.

    Those Astros season tickets are getting incrementally more attractive.
     
    Twirling Time, Jan 17, 2023
    #1967
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member


    $1 billion?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/01/17/southwest-investments-it-staffing/

    Looking ahead, the chief executive said the issues last month would accelerate the airline’s plans to enhance technology and processes; the company has budgeted more than $1 billion of its annual operating plan for upgrading, maintaining and investing in IT systems.

    Without even mentioning those notorious SWA stock buybacks, spread out over 20 years to address the airline's tech debt - the period across which the airline should have been reinvesting in its own operations infrastructure but didn't - that billion isn't much.
     
    Azrael, Jan 18, 2023
    #1968
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