On the Pennsylvanian and see the Save Amtrak...Fire Anderson signs are still up. Surprised the latter hasn't been updated.
Amtrak executives receive bonuses
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20th Century Rider
Engineer
Maybe these execs can do something to increase revenue by making bookings more affordable and doable. Was on the phone yesterday attempting to put together another cross country trip... waited 45 minutes to get through to the 'executive' agents. Then after about another two hours struggling to put together an itinerary... and waiting for the agent to go and 'check' I finally gave up. Perhaps it was a trainee... ok... but the entire episode was taking too much time and going nowhere and I simply ran out of patience.
It is hard to understand why these top brass are getting raises when Amtrak doesn't have the wherewithal to 'raise' revenue with sales.
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Whether the bonuses are justified or not is debatable. My personal opinion is Gardner and Coscia should be fired. Right now for reasons both in and out of Amtraks control we are seeing Amtrak at its absolute worst in its 52 year history. I remember vividly riding Amtrak in 2002 when Amtrak was literally within days of being shut down. The network trains were thought to be ceasing the next Monday. Employees on the Coast Starlight were professional and dignified. As it turned out David Gunn pulled a rabbit out of a hat and negotiated loans with a very hostile Administration led by DOT secretary Norman Mineta to continue operations. That until now was probably Amtraks most perilous situation. To a person every Amtrak employee I’ve chatted with recently has no confidence in current management. A company can’t succeed long term with such disconnects and customers are paying the price.
I found this article and it’s stunning to me some the similarities between 2002 and now. Gunn inherited a mess and if Amtrak as a whole survives , its next management will have a similar mess to clean up.
https://chicagomaroon.com/article/2002/7/12/amtrak-will-continue-service-with-loan/
“Several management problems have led to Amtrak's current debt. Its system is prone to maintenance deferrals and a lack of much-needed heavy overhauls. One of the stipulations on the loan is that all the money be spent on Amtrak's current service without the planned expansion.
In addition, one out of every 15 Amtrak cars is out of service. Many of these have been defunct since the early 1990s, and the majority were used for long distance travel.”
I found this article and it’s stunning to me some the similarities between 2002 and now. Gunn inherited a mess and if Amtrak as a whole survives , its next management will have a similar mess to clean up.
https://chicagomaroon.com/article/2002/7/12/amtrak-will-continue-service-with-loan/
“Several management problems have led to Amtrak's current debt. Its system is prone to maintenance deferrals and a lack of much-needed heavy overhauls. One of the stipulations on the loan is that all the money be spent on Amtrak's current service without the planned expansion.
In addition, one out of every 15 Amtrak cars is out of service. Many of these have been defunct since the early 1990s, and the majority were used for long distance travel.”
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20th Century Rider
Engineer
Management inefficiency and lack of investment, updating, upgrading, maintaining, and perhaps just 'attitude' is severely degrading this semi regulated transportation company. Time and again we look and compare with Brightline, and the new European privately funded lines now competing with lower costing.
Amtrak is a national disgrace when it comes to management and actual connectivity with the government. And once again I called to try to make a reservation which took hours and got nowhere. How does one sum up the immensity of dysfunction with Amtrak? Hard to do just that because no one knows where to begin.
The concept of management bonuses is unthinkable. Bonuses? For what?
I think this is another instance in which the headline and/or article doesn't tell the whole (or nuanced) story.
My first reaction, given what I know about Amtrak, is that those pay increases were contractual rather than performance-based.
It would be the same as saying that a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is a bonus, when in fact it isn't.
What I think should happen though, is that those execs use that extra money to help improve service and performance, unless there's a clause that states that using pay increases for such purposes is not allowed.
That's another discussion entirely.
My first reaction, given what I know about Amtrak, is that those pay increases were contractual rather than performance-based.
It would be the same as saying that a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is a bonus, when in fact it isn't.
What I think should happen though, is that those execs use that extra money to help improve service and performance, unless there's a clause that states that using pay increases for such purposes is not allowed.
That's another discussion entirely.
Gardner's $200K bonus wouldn't put a dent in any effort to improve service. It's not even a rounding error in Amtrak's operating budget.
In Amtrak's case, this may be a more difficult question since the structure is more complex. People here know better than I do. As far as your typical, for-profit business, though, I'm not sure any studies have been done. You could certainly hypothesize that if a company files bankruptcy, executives shouldn't be rewarded, but they frequently are. And if the company is profitable, can you really point to any evidence that the CEO is worth 2-300x the pay of front line employees? The gulf between executive and worker compensation is very well documented over the last 50 years.
