mkaresh Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Amy Wilson, Automotive News DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. executive Mark Fields will stop using the company plane to fly home to Florida on the weekends, the automaker confirmed today. Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, told employees about the change in a Thursday morning internal Web cast. "He said he's made a decision to stop using the company aircraft for his personal use," Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said. "He doesn't want this or any other issue to distract the team from its main mission, which is to deliver the Way Forward plan and return our North American business to profitability." Starting this weekend, Fields will fly commercial, and the company will cover that cost, Hoyt said. You may e-mail Amy Wilson at awilson@crain.com This is an excerpt. Rest of story: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...ct=emailblast01 (probably requires sub) Good move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Yeah, the issue was starting to become widely known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironhorse Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Doesn't matter,people will still bitch because he will probably fly First Class instead of Economy Coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZanatWork Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Hilarious! One of the most common complaints I see or read about Ford execs is that they "don't see out of Detroit". Ford appoints one that is both very well-traveled and lives in a trendy state...and people bitch anyway! It's either sad in a funny way or funny in a sad way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Oval Guide Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Detroit News also covered this today - here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Hilarious! One of the most common complaints I see or read about Ford execs is that they "don't see out of Detroit". Ford appoints one that is both very well-traveled and lives in a trendy state...and people bitch anyway! It's either sad in a funny way or funny in a sad way.... The union guys are the ones who started to make a big deal out of it, the press was just starting to notice their whinning and moaning. "Bububu management flights are the real issue. Fuck Mark, not us." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZanatWork Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Richard gets testy any time I post anything about the UAW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 doesn't matter .... as I posted before ... Mulally gets 32mill a year (?) .. Fields gets about 18mil .. I am sure this is included in that 18mill ... so instead of getting 18mill in cash, he gets 1mill of that in flights home every week .. makes no sense that people complain. Igor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donzuchowski Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 IF FORD IS PAYING FOR HIM TO TRAVEL HOME WHICH IS A PERSONAL TRIP, THEN THEY ARE NOT SAVING ANY MONEY. FORD SHOULD JUST TELL HIM TO MOVE TO MICHIGAN OR PAY FOR THE TRIPS HIMSELF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 IF FORD IS PAYING FOR HIM TO TRAVEL HOME WHICH IS A PERSONAL TRIP, THEN THEY ARE NOT SAVING ANY MONEY. FORD SHOULD JUST TELL HIM TO MOVE TO MICHIGAN OR PAY FOR THE TRIPS HIMSELF. You think one round trip first class ticket costs the same as chartering a private jet? These trips were negotiated as part of his compensation package. If the company wasn't paying for the trips it would be paying for something else. And if they didn't pay for it then he'd be working at some other company right now that would be willing to pay for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 IF FORD IS PAYING FOR HIM TO TRAVEL HOME WHICH IS A PERSONAL TRIP, THEN THEY ARE NOT SAVING ANY MONEY. FORD SHOULD JUST TELL HIM TO MOVE TO MICHIGAN OR PAY FOR THE TRIPS HIMSELF. why the hell would he want to move to michigan? In Florida they don't have any state income taxes-screw michigan....but I hear you can get a hell of a deal from all the laid off ford employee's!! I will give mark credit for at least giving into "perception." His time is worth way to much to be sitting in an airport waiting to board for his flight to west palm beach. I have a buddy who flies on the company jet pretty often...he has not relocated to ohio (from michigan) and they routinely fly out of their way to drop him off.....is he billed for it-nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) IF FORD IS PAYING FOR HIM TO TRAVEL HOME WHICH IS A PERSONAL TRIP, THEN THEY ARE NOT SAVING ANY MONEY. FORD SHOULD JUST TELL HIM TO MOVE TO MICHIGAN OR PAY FOR THE TRIPS HIMSELF. lol...exhibit 82374 A private jet probably costs Ford like 1 million a year, Fields' worth alone is far higher. If this is all about money, how about we just fire Mulally and Fields and just return to Bill Ford? Millions of dollars "saved" right there. Edited January 18, 2007 by pcsario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Bill Ford was wise enough to realize he was in over his head, Allen Mullaly will get the job done and Mark Fields will grow tired of the back and forth and in time, either locate his office to Fla (and use telecom/internet tech such as the new MS Sync) or move to Michigan. Either way, it is far cheaper to fly first class than to run a corporate jet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) Yep. And the Union has given things up in the middle of their contract as well. It's called being a team player. You can't expect people to respect you when you are heading up a company that is losing money, and you are being flown to Florida every weekend because you chose not to move to where your job is. Let another company take him if he doesn't like it. With Alan here now, we don't need Fields, or his million dollar a year plane tab. Err... Mulally's expertise is in the engineering department. They both need each other for everything else. The fact that the 500 is his favorite car should tell you tons about how "irrelevant" Fields is, especially after the work he did at Mazda, FOE, the C2 Focus or the recent concepts. Again, Mulally thought that shitty looking Lexus was "the best car in the world" and is drooling all over the 500. He's obviously an engineering -not product- guy. In the end that's more like the cost of the plane per year (1-5m tops), you guys are treating this as if it was his personal limousine - it's the overall yearly cost and others will use it as well, the savings will be minimal, and so on. This is just a PR move so you people can STFU already. Edited January 18, 2007 by pcsario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) I meant those in the UAW in general being unreasonable about this out there. Not any poster in particular. That's how all this mess started in the first place. Word of mouth. More like broken telephone IMO. This could've gotten huge, so yeah Ford only wanted people to shut up. It wasn't some kind of retraction on their part when it comes to perks and savings. Edited January 18, 2007 by pcsario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Yep. And the Union has given things up in the middle of their contract as well. It's called being a team player. You can't expect people to respect you when you are heading up a company that is losing money, and you are being flown to Florida every weekend because you chose not to move to where your job is. Let another company take him if he doesn't like it. With Alan here now, we don't need Fields, or his million dollar a year plane tab. yeah because that is a lot when he is paid nearly $20m and his boss is paid $32m ... yup $1m item is a reason to fire him .. Igor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 Pony Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Sorry, but like people who say that Gen Pool is just a drop in the bucket in the big picture, Mark Fields' use of a jet to go home is the same thing. This was such a non-issue to start out with. Especially since Fields has such an important part in seeing to Ford's turnaround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Okay, Pioneer, pcsario: I'm sick of the sniping. Take it outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Autoblog's take on the issue, the other side of the coin: Today, Mr. Fields announced to the workers at Ford that he would forgo the perk, guaranteed to him as a part of his compensation package, and make the weekend flights home on a commercial airline. Fields has been asked to relocate several times throughout his career at Ford Motor Company, and felt that this arrangement would avoid yet another disruption in the life of his family. He uses the time at home with his family to relax from the brutal schedule he keeps during the week as one of the significant players in the revitalization at Ford. Fields will continue to fly home to Florida on the weekends, but felt that the issue was becoming a distraction to the team and made the decision on his own, with the company's full support. Poor Mark, this is so unfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stang-crazy Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 as anyone forgot that Mr. fields is the president of an international company? this kinda thing happens all the time at other companies and no one even cares. he is the president of Ford of NA, the man can go to the company airport hanger and charter that company jet with comapny fuel anywhere in the world anytime he wants. its the privalige he gets with job......along with the big paycheck, the stress, the overtime, and the responsiblities. sure we could hire a homeless man from detroit to be president of ford, and i'm sure he'll never need to fly the company jet anywhere, but will he do as good of a Job as Mark tries to do? it all comes with the Job....the good and the bad.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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