Early yesterday, Saint Louis University officials confirmed that Don Carty, chairman and CEO of American Airlines, would be receiving an honorary degree and speaking at Commencement on May 17 at the Savvis Center.
By late afternoon, University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., and Carty agreed in a telephone conversation that Carty would not participate in the University ceremonies.
“Mr. Carty was concerned that the controversy surrounding him would reflect negatively on the University,” said Bridget Fletcher, assistant to Biondi. “It was mutually agreed upon that he would not participate.”
That controversy arose after American Airlines requested that each of their three major unions reduce costs by $1.8 billion through reductions in pay, benefits and work rules. After all three unions ratified the plan, it was revealed that American Airlines executives would be receiving retention bonuses and a pension plan.
Carty has since apologized for not communicating the executive compensation programs with union leaders, saying, “We did what has never before been done … we delivered the largest consensual savings in U.S. history. And then I made a mistake and, of course, it was a big one.” The retention bonuses have been canceled.
Both the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union have decided to resubmit the new contracts to their membership for a revote. The Allied Pilots Association has threatened to not sign the contract.
All of this controversy hit Saint Louis University yesterday, primarily as a result of a column published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by columnist Bill McClellan that revealed that Carty had been invited to give the commencement address. McClellan wrote, “The local Jesuits have shamed me. With charity in their hearts–and maybe a new fountain in the back of their minds–they have invited Carty to give the commencement address at Saint Louis University next month.”
Fletcher explained that Carty had been invited to be a speaker several years ago when American Airlines was at its peak, having recently purchased TWA. She explained that the selection of a commencement speaker frequently requires several years of planning and scheduling.
Fletcher said Carty had been chosen for his business expertise, but she noted that was before Sept. 11, before the war and at a time when the airline industry was doing well.
A new commencement speaker will be selected within a day or so, Fletcher said.
Prior to the University’s change of plans, Sherry Cooper, a furloughed former-TWA, now American, flight attendant, said that she and a substantial group of furloughed flight attendants would conduct informational picketing outside the commencement ceremonies.
In an agreement reached at the time of American Airlines acquisition of TWA, the flight attendants for TWA were placed at the bottom of the American Airlines seniority list, which has translated recently into more than 2,000, furloughed, former-TWA flight attendants.
“It doesn’t say much for [SLU] if that’s someone they want to honor,” Cooper said.
Another furloughed flight attendant, and St. Louis resident, Jason Motley said, “I was quite appalled that a Christian university that teaches ethics and morality is giving a degree to someone unethical.”
Upon learning that Carty would no longer speak, Cooper expressed relief and said that picketing would no longer be necessary.
