As much as I was more on #TeamAmerican than #TeamUSAirways pre-merger, I’ve long had respect for US Airways’ upper management team, and in particular Doug Parker. He seems like a relatable guy, and a lot less out-of-touch than the CEOs of some other airlines. And given the labor issues at many airlines, I think that’s a good thing.
For the past several years, American has had a Halloween party at headquarters, which took place this past Friday. Not only were there some epic costumes, but the executives did a little “performance,” if you can call it that.
So, what did American’s top executives come dressed as for this year’s “performance?” Via Star-Telegram:
American chief executive Doug Parker, with his best black eyeliner, impersonated Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones at the Fort Worth-based carrier’s Halloween celebration.
But it was president Scott Kirby who stole the show, channeling his inner Taylor Swift in a performance of “Bad Blood.” He also made a celebrity-worth entrance, riding on the back of a Harley driven by executive vice president Elise Eberwein, who was dressed as Kendrick Lamar (who appeared in Swift’s “Bad Blood” video.)
Here’s the video:
Goodness, Scott Kirby dressed as Taylor Swift is something, alright!
AA crisis management is praising the Lord that Eberwein didn't wear blackface with the Kendrick Lamar costume.
Looks more like Poison
Haha! What a fun thing to do with your employees! Maybe good corporate culture will help improve service?
@ Lucky — A bit painful to watch. Please include a disclaimer for the Christmas party clip.
JRL
Ben,
I'm coming at this from the USAir side of the merger, but it's nice to see you given some credit to Parker. I do not know the man personally, but I think we can be cautiously optimistic that they'll continue to "adopt best practices" from both sides of the deal. US Air (I've got 2+million miles on UA and about 800K very painful miles on DL) has treated me very well since I defected...
Ben,
I'm coming at this from the USAir side of the merger, but it's nice to see you given some credit to Parker. I do not know the man personally, but I think we can be cautiously optimistic that they'll continue to "adopt best practices" from both sides of the deal. US Air (I've got 2+million miles on UA and about 800K very painful miles on DL) has treated me very well since I defected from the Friendly Skies a couple of years ago...
The rules make sense, the prices are always competitive and (prior to this week's bewildering announcement) they seem committed to the product, not just chasing Spirit down a rabbit hole.
As much as I hate Smisek and, even more so, Tricky Dick over at DL, (both former attorneys with little airline experience), I give Parker credit as a long-time 'airline guy' who was at America West, but also NWA and AA prior to that. He thinks of airlines as more that aluminum tubes full of self-loading cargo being gouged along the way.
He deserves a lot of credit for the smoothness of integration so far.
*cringe*