For CEO Spouses, Corporate Jets Are The Perfect Perk

[Blue Oval Guide]

For CEO Spouses, Corporate Jets Are The Perfect Perk

 

When Nicki Mulally wants to travel, she can usually hop on one of Ford Motor Co.'s Falcon twin-turbo jets.

 

The reason: She's married to Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive.

 

To woo Mr. Mulally from Boeing Co. last fall, Ford promised that his wife, five children and guests could fly on corporate aircraft without him, as long as he authorizes the travel. Personal flights by Mr. Mulally and family members cost Ford $172,974 during his four months with the auto maker last year. A Ford spokesman declines to disclose the family-member and guest component of that sum.

 

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[BlackHorse]

Well at least she didn't go Nancy Pelosi on us. LOL

[LincolnFan]

Wow, I wonder how Mark Fields feel about this.

[Arniect]

As Richard has pointed several times:

 

If Mr Mulally does what he was hired to do, he will be worth every cent he is paid.

 

If you want to hire the bigs boys you have to pay. So far he seems to be making good progress.

 

If he does not get the job done, a whole lot of jobs will be gone, along with Ford Motor as we know it.

[Roadrunner]

He married someone named Nicki? That's.... not gonna say it.

 

At least he named his kids good Irish names like Molly.

Edited July 3, 2007 by Roadrunner

[Michael Reynolds]

$36 Million for basically doing nothing yet, and a private jet to boot. Must be nice. :rolleyes:

 

Basically doing nothing eh? Ummm, you know that how?

[OAC_Sparky]

Well, at least Ford stock has generally been going the right way since he's been on board.

 

That's more than we can say for his last few predecessors.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Well hope that you don't think that when Mr Mullaly has a meeting in another state you expect him to drive there or catch the bus, the cost seems low when compared to this unemployed bloke $2,000,000 trip.

 

http://www.anorak.co.uk/news/politics/173755.html

 

God Bless America & God bless Ford

Have a great 4th of July enjoy Independence day

Don’t forget to make a bit of time for

[Michael Reynolds]

Have you seen the sales reports lately?

 

I'm sorry that makes no sense. The guy runs a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company and you expect results within months of being in office?

 

I mean do you expect the guy to wave a magic wand over Ford's product offering and make it right? Be realistic man.

Edited July 3, 2007 by Michael Reynolds

[Edstock]

Have you seen the sales reports lately?

 

Cute, but doesn't answer the question. How do you know he has done nothing?

 

Answer: you don't.

 

So, what we have here is a brain-fart.

 

You have done and can do better, but anyway, thanks for playing

[mustang84isu]

Have you seen the sales reports lately?

I've seen the sales figures, and I'm seeing an Escape that is within 600 units of the CR-V for June, an Edge that has already crested the 12K mark (and outselling the Highlander and within 2000 units of the RAV4), a Taurus that has sold 5800 in its second month with production still ramping up, and overall decent sales for the rest except for the old timers like the Panthers and Ranger. Even the F-series is hanging on well despite the fact a refresh is around the corner.

 

What are you seeing?

[BlackHorse]

name='Edstock' post='193337' date='Jul 3 2007, 07:23 PM']Cute, but doesn't answer the question. How do you know he has done nothing?

 

Answer: you don't.

 

So, what we have here is a brain-fart.

 

You have done and can do better, but anyway, thanks for playing

 

 

Awwww dammit!!!! That was a really smelly one too Pioneer!!!! All the time with you man, always cuttin' the brain farts in here!!! Go outside or something!! Strike a match, warn a brother, something!!! You can't just be cuttin' loose like that man, it's crowded and hot in here. There's nothing worse then funk when it's crowded and hot!!! You got no home trainin' boy!!! lol

Edited July 4, 2007 by BlackHorse

[2000SableWagon]

I've seen the sales figures, and I'm seeing an Escape that is within 600 units of the CR-V for June, an Edge that has already crested the 12K mark (and outselling the Highlander and within 2000 units of the RAV4), a Taurus that has sold 5800 in its second month with production still ramping up, and overall decent sales for the rest except for the old timers like the Panthers and Ranger. Even the F-series is hanging on well despite the fact a refresh is around the corner.

 

What are you seeing?

 

Not to mention the reduction in the crack cocaine habit (I mean rentals). They barely make a profit, reduce the resale value and hurt public perception of the brand. So who is picking up the slack in the rental fleets? I see more Toyota's and Hyundai's, could Toyota be doing more damage than good trying to claim the #1 position.

[robertlane]

He married someone named Nicki? That's.... not gonna say it.

 

At least he named his kids good Irish names like Molly.

MRS. MOLLY MULALLY. I guess it's better than Mrs. Rose Bush.

[Tony Alonso]

20 year old designs still on the road with no replacements planned.

 

Which ones?

 

Products rotting on the vine.

 

Which ones?

 

Vehicles not being upgraded with readily available parts.

 

Which ones and what parts?

 

New vehicles being redesigned without new powertrains because they are not ready.

 

Which ones?

 

Plants closing because of lack of product.

 

I submit it's because they do not need the volume of vehicles at the current market share level, not because of lack of them.

 

People losing their jobs while CEO's wives are flown around the globe spending their spouses multi-million dollar bonuses.

 

I agree that perks like this seem counterintuitive with Ford in crisis mode. I also agree the people who left were significantly affected by decisions from people who were most likely in roles well above them in the management hierarchy. Many did get buyouts while some were let go without any safety net.

 

Ford's biggest challenge is to get products to market FASTER than they do today. Also, since we here in the US don't often consider the global picture, I would add that the market does include other areas where they do have success already.

 

Less perks would make a statement.

[Michael Reynolds]

20 year old designs still on the road with no replacements planned. Products rotting on the vine. Vehicles not being upgraded with readily available parts. New vehicles being redesigned without new powertrains because they are not ready. Plants closing because of lack of product. People losing their jobs while CEO's wives are flown around the globe spending their spouses multi-million dollar bonuses.

 

I'll ask again how do you know?

 

You know damn well new vehicle development takes at the very least 3 years (and that's being generous). Alan has been there for months

 

Plants are closing because Ford has an over capacity issue, which it has had for years and years. Alan has been there for months

 

Why are people losing their jobs? Let's see because A. They aren't needed B. They are worthless or C. All of the Above

 

Why is it that some people working in the manufacturing (namely automotive) segment come off with this elitist ass attitude that everything must be done a specific way or no way at all? I get tired of the bitching, because quite frankly I didn't see the UAW supporting all of the tech jobs or engineering jobs that were sent to India and China a few years back. I didn't see anyone clamoring and bitching at Microsoft/EDS/IBM/Dell, all of which are American companies, when they laid off thousands of workers. An American job is an American job regardless as to whether or not we belong to a union or not.

[Edstock]

How do you don't know?

 

See, I can do it too.

 

Mr Reynolds asked you a question. Please extend the intellectual honesty of answering it, instead of trying to obfuscate and weasel.

 

Thanks for playing

 

[Michael Reynolds]

Did any of those workers try to organize a union? How can the UAW, or any other union, help people if they don't help themselves. And, I believe if you listen to any speech Ron Gettelfinger makes, or any of the numerous newspaper columns he has written, he has mentioned outsourcing numerous times. It's not his, or the unions fault, that the American public could care less about who is losing their jobs, or where their products are made.

 

I do my part. I do my best to purchase American produced goods. Sometimes it is impossible, other times a quick Internet search will provide numerous choices. Than you have to decide which is better. Buying the American made products over the Internet, or trying to keep your dollars local.

 

And to answer one of your other questions, autoworkers are not losing their jobs because of their poor performance. They are losing their jobs because the people at the top aren't doing theirs. The last three plants Ford closed had recently won awards for quality, and had high rankings for productivity.

 

Funny thing is, people on this board defend overpaid CEO's until the end. Million dollar bonuses and all. All the while, none of them are being held accountable. They keep getting richer, and being showered with more extravagant benefit packages, while the average worker wonders if they are going to get off the golf course long enough to put some product into their plant, or wonder if they even care. It's not like they are paid for performance.

 

I'm sorry but an American job is an American job, regardless as to whether or not the workers in the associated field have an organized union or not. That's an especially lame ass excuse for an organization who always cries 'Buy American'! It is a two-way street, but what I don't understand is where you came up with the idea that I'm finger pointing. I'm not! I essentially pointed out an industry that was ravaged by offshoring, but ignored by most people that had nothing to do with that sector.

 

Then you go on to admit that is impossible at times. Well it is, and everytime you give someone a hard time about purchasing a competitive product from Japan or Europe (or even Mexican built Ford vehicles), make sure you keep that idea handy. You will most def. need it.

 

And regardless as to who won what, did what and when........Ford is a corporation. Primary premise, to make as much money as it can. If Ford is running on avg. at 70 perecent capacity at each plant what sense does it make to have the 6th plant open when the others have the ability to absorb the flak. Especially, if the other plants are closer to suppliers thus saving Ford even more money. And sorry but not every autoworker is perfect......as is not every white collar worker.

 

Furthermore, I am not defending an overpaid senior management official on a broad level. You mentioned that he hasn't done much to rectify the issues at Ford, but what you continue to NOT realize is that you can't change everything over night. The proveribal 'rabbit out of the hat trick' is non-exsistent in an industry that requires lenghty lead times to develop new products. The same thing can be said about sales. What the hell do you want the guy to do go out and shove Fords down every consumers throat? Be friggin reasonable, Since we are full of bright ideas I'd like to see you find a much more ideal person, pay them less and watch him/her struggle with the same issues that Alan is dealing with at the current moment.

[Michael Reynolds]

I understand you can't change things overnight. I also understand that you shouldn't be paid an exuberant sum overnight with no results to justify it. Something everybody around here is defending.

Our plant capacity is down because management isn't designing,r and engineering vehicles people want to buy. It's as simple as that. If they did the jobs they are being very well paid for, everybody would be happy like it was the early to mid-nineties all over again. Surely you remember that. Ford was poised to become #1 in the States, plants were working overtime to build all the vehicles people wanted, management and hourly alike were receiving huge bonuses, and the stock was shooting to an all time high. Then management got complacent, and the whole house of cards came tumbling down. Now the average worker, who has no say on what really is being built, is asked to take the brunt of the concessions, while the top guys still get multi-million dollar bonuses, free vehicles, and use of a jet so their under worked spouses and family can jet off to Paris to spend money on the latest fashions.

 

I swear, you elitists really get to me defending these practices. One day your going to wake up. I hope.

 

Who are you to sit back and dissect how much someone makes?

 

Even if management isn't doing their job vis-à-vis product, running various plants scattered across the US is not efficent. Haven't you heard of lean manufacturing?

 

You know there are so many things I could ramble on about, but it would be a waste to divuldge it any further because you are too insistent on pointing the finger and placing blame elsewhere.

Edited July 7, 2007 by Michael Reynolds

[bb62]

For what it's worth:

 

1. Ford hasn't invested in upgrading certain products (or technology) to competitive levels (like the Panther platform and the Ranger may be the most egrigious examples).

2. Mullaly aside (and for the most part I don't see his salary or perks as an issue - except with the optical view many could take), the vast majority of Ford hasn't changed its management structure. The layer of clay is still there with all the wrong people still in the wrong spots. Vehicle product planning is still being run by a guy who spent his career in engineering and manufacturing - and he doesn't have a clue.

3. The majority of people who have left from significant levels mostly left for political reasons. Phil Martens was responsible for a lot of good people who left and shouldn't have.

4. Much of the organizational woes are due to the triple body blows of Ford 2000/Nasser/Billy. Each led to major reorganizations that caused the professional cadree of managers and executives to leave in favor of pet schemes. Ford's depth of talent is extremely low due to this ten years of power struggles. Product planners like Ben Lever and Jon Baker are what made Ford tick. And they were broomed aside for untried "talent".

5. Engineering capability has suffered significantly with the power struggle that vaulted engineering into many business positions that they were unprepared for - yet were at higher salary levels. Ford has always utilized its institutional memory to pass down the tricks and techniques of competitent design to the youner guys (and gals) coming into the company. This doesn't happen anymore. Ford, having eliminated this experience, is more dependent on suppliers than ever. But even the suppliers don't have the capability that Ford needs given the draconian purchasing policies that have left suppliers either near bankruptcy themselves or unwilling to yield the best solutions to Ford given past ford practices.

 

From what I see of this online argument, both sides have significant (and true) points to be made. it does indeed take time to turn around a company like Ford. But it also takes a significant enough shakeup at all levels to change the long term culture. My contacts within the company tell me that this is only happening at the highest levels and that past practices are still pervasive throughout the company. And that doesn't bode well.

[jpd80]

I could say that about a lot of people on this board concerning my wages and benefits. As long as my wages are deemed excessive, I will point out the same on the other side of the table.

 

Pioneer, what's changed for people to now call them excessive?

Obviously, Ford agreed to them back then so with today's situation given all the workers are

trying to increased efficiency/productivity, is there no room for management to be reasonable on this?

Edited July 8, 2007 by jpd80