Concordia University Aviation MBA

[WJman]

I think Milton used his book to twist the facts and make himself look better. The moment he took the helm he should have been on top of things.The fact that Milton has all these things to blame AC's problems on is very convienent, there was always some other rerason, besides his incompetence that things were going terribly wrong. I agree that AC will find itself back in bankruptcy in the next few years. As an ex-AC man myself I find nothing has changed concerning general employee attitudes, there is still a lot of waste and innefficencies and management/employee relations are at an all time low.

[MLS-12D]

I'm not sure how accurate your statements concerning Concordia's arabic students are

I'm not sure either. This link, provided in my earlier post, refers to "the university's 4,000-strong Arab community"; whether that number is accurate, I don't really know. In any case, I do know that whatever their numbers are, the Arabic students at Concordia are quite vocal and visible. Personally I don't think that I would have much of a problem with that situation, but some people might.

the direct payoff for an MBA is not readily available in aviation, to the same extent as most other businesses

I believe this statement is accurate.

Cranfield has a very respected program for accident investigators

Quite correct.

Royal Roads' MBA has several three week residences over two years, and the balance is group project work. The advantage I see to them (without having looked at the others ) is that you could easily add a couple of HR, or Finance modules so as to be employable outside aviation.

It depends. Rightly or wrongly, there is a widespread prejudice against distance-learning EMBAs (see further the article in last Friday's
Report on Business Magazine. I would counsel anyone contemplating such a degree to at least get it from a 'name' business school, so that you don't have to put up with the snobbish attitude many have towards very new universities.

McGill is one of the top Universities in world and is considered prestigious. Many international and US students attend. I would say it is on par with Harvard and others as far as education and school recognition outside Canada and the US.

Yes, I agree that McGill is a good university with a good reputation. I also agree that it is probably the best-known Canadian university in the USA. I don't think that it, or any other Canadian university, has anywhere near the resources of the top American business schools. BTW, my wife received her MBA from McGill.

Most CEO's of major corporations command salaries similar to these, and those who agree to them recognize that to attract the necessary talent you need to pay money. In fact, the figures seem low compared to those of other CEO's of similarly sized corporations.

I appreciate that CEOs are hugely compensated. Whether those incredible salaries and perks are actually warranted is, at best, an open question (see generally here).

Sometimes more money is required to attract talented people, but there is not exactly a shortage of candidates for the top jobs, and there is absolutely no objective evidence that Milton has more talent than the next person. As Rosbif points out, on Milton's watch shareholder equity has been completed wiped out.

I understand he's been courted by other airlines offering more.

I find it difficult to believe that other airlines' boards would run the political risk of hiring someone who has a bankruptcy track record. I also don't understand why Milton would choose to hang tough in a job where everyone hates him, if he had the option of making a fresh start elsewhere for more money.

[Panama Jack]

MLS-12D,

Thanks as always for your interesting thoughts. I have tried to search the article about distance-learning EMBA's but with with no success. Would you be so kind as to cut-and-paste post the article, provide the link directly to the article, or even PM it to me?

Thanks.


WJMan,

I thought the book was relatively fairly balanced, considering it was not written by Milton or any of the characters in the book. Refreshingly, it did not in a biased nature play one character against the other, and made all of them "a little more human"-- well, at least in this reader's eyes. Talk about a cluster f#*k of an industry anyhow-- sorry, didn't have better words to describe that. I also wonder about AC's morale problems, and whether they have done enough. By your name, I figure you are on the blue team-- congrats-- it is nice to be on a winning team.


Rosbif,

I understand where you are coming from. As I said, I also used to have my own "Milton dart board," only in the last few months I have started to step back, reconsider, and give the man the benefit of the doubt. He will be there as long as he and the higher ups decide to keep him there-- yes, employees do need to look after their rights and interests, but somehow, they all need to get on the same side if Air Canada is to work out.

Despite my strong union sympathies, many airline unions have failed to recognize the changing environment of the airline industry during the last few years. This has been to the good fortune of many of the low-cost carriers.

[Rosbif]

Also consider that as soon as WJ stops expanding, and the stock options are not worth as much as they used to be, (not worth anything if the stock is falling) somebody will try to start a union there also. That might be AC's only hope.
With Milton and Leblanc both doing their best, it is not surprising that the industry is in a mess.
Maybe we should start a new thread. I would love to complain about the Fed's decision to start looking at cabotage for US carriers in Canada by airlines that we can't get visas to work at !
Free trade !!
Instead of letting the Yanks in, maybe we should let Sir Dick's Virgins in instead !
All fun topics.

[MLS-12D]

have tried to search the article about distance-learning EMBA's but with with no success. Would you be so kind as to cut-and-paste post the article, provide the link directly to the article, or even PM it to me?

Sorry but I can't access it on-line. It was in the most recent issue of the magazine, which came free with the Oct. 29th edition of the Globe & Mail. Perhaps your local library has it available?

[Panama Jack]

Perhaps your local library has it available?

Doubt it. Not where I live. <sigh>