A Beautiful Sight

I saw a beautiful thing last night. As the airplane lifted off the runway at JFK just after sunset I could see above the buildings of Brooklyn all the way to Manhattan. There in the distance was a tower of light in what has been for the last 10 years – a dark hole.

It was such a wonderful sight that I took the opportunity to bring it to the attention of my 220 passengers aboard the evening flight to Rome.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. All is well and I don’t mean to startle you with an announcement at such a low altitude however I want to share with you a beautiful sight. Looking out of the right side of the airplane in the distance, you’ll notice a large tower of light. That is the first, clearly visible sign of the new Freedom Tower under construction at Ground Zero. For 10 years we’ve missed our old landmark and tonight’s sighting is inspiring. We’ve all been through a lot and I hope it will inspire you as well. Enjoy the flight, get some sleep, and I’ll talk to you before landing in Italy tomorrow morning. Thank you for your attention”.

The Final Days of Delta Air Lines

No, Delta Air Lines, Inc. isn’t going under. However, as of November 3, 2010 Delta’s staid employee culture will have forever changed. On that day 20,000 flight attendants will find out if they will become unionized or remain as they have for 86 years, non-union.

This is one commentary I would love to reread a few years down the road and admit that I had been overly pessimistic. Unfortunately this event is destined to be a lose-lose proposition for the company because of the parties involved, the emotion and contention surrounding the issue, and the relative impotence company leadership has to orchestrate a desirable outcome; no matter who ends up being the winner.