Transcript
Hello. Hello. Oh, live. Where are we today? Oh, from the back pocket. Of pocket, free yoga pants. It's business. Pants joined as always by Matt mascardi are chief BS correspondent. That's your new title. I'm glad I like that title that's actually the truest title you've ever gave me and me your affable host. Oh wait it says laughable sorry yeah yeah yeah you don't forget the L. And today is summer is almost over birthday Edition. Called August 30th 2020 to Summer travel chaos. Part 37 and 2 birthday parties actually really birthdays in one party. Maybe two birds. Oh wait. There's only one party that's like the worst. You'll see that's like having a birthday before Christmas. We tried that at work. I remember before we were bought by msci with, I know we tried that where we tried to do all, we used to have a, everyone's birthday, got a cake. And then, I think we tried it for a while, like grouping. The birthday party. Like was there a revolution of may all the main part I think people were a little sad. That's there's literally an Office episode that's that. Well, here's the real problem with that is that there can go. You know, many months now or many weeks without any cake and you got to spread out the cake I mean really? Yeah. Yeah, you need cakes separation. Okay. Are you ready? Yeah, let's do it. I don't know. You want to do this. Matt, I have a slew of a summer travel chaos headlines to update you want to. And hopefully, this is the last edition of this amazing, please. You're done with these. Is this all Business Insider by the way, Ah, no, most mostly I'll say, let me just put it this way. You're gonna know which ones are Business, Insider, which ones aren't that's? Oh yeah. All right, let's do this. This is actually a serious. Well, it's not serious. This is a summation of the airline industry, this group of headlines and I don't know how you want to react to these. I don't know if you want to rate them. I don't know if you want to play me a sound effect, you just you, do you ready? All right, I know sound effects. No nothing. I am going to, I want you to go through them and I want to consider them deeply which one is the most important travel chaos, headline of this week and let's start somewhere seriously here. First one is the airlines, keep flight Cuts other curves as industry. Woes drag on ya. Cut them baby. Stay home, stay grounded. The industry is suffering. Let's start. I like that and because start that's the Wall Street Journal. It's not the business inside. Yeah, that's not business inside, that sounds like a real story. Out of the financial times. The headline is that, boom! There's a company called boom. Boom supersonic, I believe. Oh yeah, I saw this the CEO fights doubts over bid to revive supersonic jet travel. Why Matt, why would anyone be skeptical about the airline industry these days? Well, I don't understand. I don't know, I don't know. But why do we need to travel faster than we currently are, is anybody complaining that we're not going fast enough? Let me tell you how wonderful it is to be a white man in the world of Corporation. Oh, because I dug into this company. Here's the founder. And CEO is a man named Blake Scholl, right? Here's his background. I don't know. Let me know. The surprise is, you're not. Here's his actual literal background. He's gonna BS and computer science. That's a bit bored saber metrics. Remember, this is the founder and CEO of a super sonic jet company and he had leadership roles at Amazon and Groupon Groupon's. The one that really gets me, that's the one that very clearly Blake pioneered, the automation of digital ad buying enabling advertisers to build their own long tail by promoting Niche products to relevant customers. This guy, that's the word I was looking for, for my airplane. Oh, my God, I'm moving on. London airports 26 flight to the last minute a day after claiming it was business as usual. I'm okay with that. That's feeling a little bit more Business Insider though. No, that's that's cool, but we're talking about 26 flights. So if you just do the math, that's like several, that's what 100% of flight at least maybe, you know, 600 to 6,000. You know that's like more than a thousand people were talking about. That's a real number. Here's the scary part. This next headline. And this is where we this is the kind of headline you realize that no one's learning from anything. No one thought before. No one's fighting the the other Revelation I heard yesterday that that it is a definite that the sea levels will rise. What is it? 10 inches by? Yeah just saw that and he was good. Yeah that's reversible, we're underwater. So here's how they're dealing with this with this headline. London is due to get a seventh International Airport after plans to redevelop a former Air Force Base where so that's the solution is. Yeah, another Airport. You know, I was thinking there's Aren't Enough places to fly into London. The next headline, this is now where it starts to get a little sexier. Matt here. The next headline, Harry Potter star. Which probably means it's something we've never heard of because I don't. Why do you have to say? Yeah, you say Harry Potter. If it was Harry Potter star, slams Air Canada, saying the airline tore up his ticket and kicked him out of first class because the flight was full. What kind of a headline is that what's happening? What is that? I mean, but it was Neville Longbottom who got off. He's so he was still pretty tall so maybe they couldn't fit him. Well, not only that but yeah, as Neville. Longbottom don't you expect this to happen every single time he gets on a flight. That's true. This is right. This thing character Here's the next one. American airlines passengers were stuck on an Atlantic Island for 20 hours for their plane was diverted when Pilots smelled smoke and the cockpit, That is not sound like the worst place to be stuck. Well, look, and you definitely don't want to keep flying if that would happen. How is it be fair to American Airlines if the cockpit is full of smoke? And by the way stuck on an island for that, that's this is a problem. I mean, I would imagine if you're like that for 20 years. Yeah. And what's the deal business inside our we're calling? Why do we have to say, Atlantic Island? What can't you just say? God damn Bermuda. Was it Bermuda? Yes, Bermuda. What are we doing here? What are we doing? Because if they said stuck at Bermuda, no one would click on that. Everyone would be like, stop whining but if Atlantic Island it makes it sound like, literally an eighth hole somewhere. Staying in our summer. Travel chaos, part 37 series. Here's a good one. Blind woman's guide. Dog was squashed in footwell for eight hours on. Two, WestJet flights. Now, bear in mind, it's just a dumb dog. It's not the blind woman, right? And squashed does not mean injured or just implies uncomfortable. That's my dog loves being squashed. They, he loves being kind of swaddled. That makes him feel loved. I don't know. We are saying a dog was uncomfortable for for eight hours. Right? That's what that headline says, and how many work this out? Says, eight hours on two WestJet flights, is it eight hours per WestJet flight or anything? It's total. What do you think? I don't know. But I'm going immediately to my Robinhood account to short WestJet as a result of this story. Thank you, next time. Next headline. Taurus says, she had 10 flights canceled and it took 13 days to return home to Shanghai due to a covid-19 lockdown at a resort. She Visited in China. You care about this one. I mean, is that really the airlines? I mean, like there's a covid-19 lockdown. What is the only? What are they supposed to do? Let's do the math here, return home to Shanghai right in the lockdown is, is in China? It sounds like, yeah, she just hop on a bus. What's going on here? No, I don't know. I don't know. Moving on. She's going from China to China and she got stuck this one. This might be my favorite one of the week. A worker at one of Europe's. Busiest airports says, a lack of confidence in baggage. Handling is leading to flight delays. Come on, you could do it Jimmy. Just pick up that nice red one and everything is gonna be okay. What is this? What is happening here? What's the lack of confidence? I don't understand the, we have to call it one of Europe's busiest airports. It was Heathrow. It wasn't. It was like, this is just a London story again. Oh, here's a good one here. This is kind of a different one but staying in our ridiculous. You know, just for our one listener, there's like, 12 more of these. Just, he's just Air France, Pilots suspended after in-flight cockpit brawl. Oh I did see that? Yeah yeah I mean what else you have to do in there? It's autopilot for most of the fight, they just fight each other. I got two statements. Is it time to retire? The term cockpit. Can we be done with cockpit? I even feel embarrassed looking at the word, come on, grow up. And the second thing is here is it says that a crew member sat in the cockpit with the two players for the render, the flight to make sure they didn't go into the round? How much you want to bet? That crew member was a woman to calm down the two fighting. She was probably actually the head of HR of error France. That's, that's probably what she moving on. United Airlines plane was forced to refuel after waiting on a runway for more than six hours. But the flight got canceled anyway because the crew timed out. Yeah, this is a this is what they write about over. Business inside her. I did this one actually does this one does feelings with you? Yeah, they literally burned so much fuel. They sat still. And learned a plane's worth of fuel. Think about that. Think about that implication here that they were running. Thinking for six hours at the results. Yes, think about the carbon emissions of a plane that's sitting on the tarmac burning fuel so much so that they have to refuel it in the middle of it and then cancel the flight anyway, so there's no benefit. Not only did you not get from point A to point B but you made sure to increase the the sea level rise. Very slightly and idling rules, I'm pretty I'm pretty sure here in Portland. Like you can't even idle your car for more than a minute. Yeah, they should turn it off, right. Like if it isn't it just a switch. I think that's the way it works. These next two ones, Go Together. Matt, but this but believe it or not, it's not the same story. First, an American Airlines passenger says a stranger discovered her lost luggage and Hamburg. Where she hadn't visited in American doesn't fly too. That's the first one that's weird to me. Yeah the second one second headline in American Travelers bag was lost in her vacation to Europe. Five weeks later a stranger sent a photo of her luggage in a city. She had never been to That one slice, weird. I don't care about why we write about a single person's luggage. Now that's what we were what I just want to. I just want to be in one editorial meeting over business inside. I think it'd be a fun morning. I can you imagine a little notebook and their flipping through and they're like, we've got to lead on a person who had a bag that was in the overhead that fell do. You want to cover that one? What was someone, who, who while eating their their peanuts? Like sneezes all over the seat? Man, that that's all. So, in the notebook, that's on the next spring. Just spraying the Planters dust everywhere. It's a lead. Luckily, I only have two more. Yeah, first of all, Eric Canada, CEO, still blaming pandemic for nightmare, summer of travel. I mean, is it positive? Is it negative? I am I pregnant. What is this bullshit? Right? I mean, the stupid pandemic, right? Right. You you United Airlines blamed the government? Right. So we have two culprits. And just to let you know, this is CEO, Michael Russo. This is the guy with the French last name who can't speak French and an officially bilingual country which I know Matt laughs at but is important to business up there in Canada. But this is a, this is an interesting tidbit about Michael Russo. He actually took over the job as a CEO, at Air Canada, Matt. One year into the pandemic. So we actually have some. So so it makes you think and we actually have some insight information. Here's one of the interview questions while he was being interviewed for CEO. They asked him, can you help us with this pandemic shit to which he entered? You betcha? Oh right. So, wow, he was hired during the pandemic is what I'm trying to say like what? He's blaming that I mean, don't you think that they write you with me here with nobody isn't? But isn't being hired during the pandemic gives you carte blanche to just blame the pandemic for everything that happens. No, I was hired during the pandemic. So that's your higher fixed. I think you had to fix problems. I know, you gotta practice the art of blaming someone else for all your problems and finally, not to be outdone map. Here's two travel headlines that actually might be righting. These actually might be these actually might be worthy of something. The first one, a trip. A train passenger among dozens stranded in 32 Mile. Undersea tunnel for five hours describes describes terrifying journey into the abyss that was like a disaster movie. This is the channel tunnel. Yeah, yes, this is from the Paris to London train. I saw I saw some footage of this. There were trapped underneath the English Channel and they had to get out of the train and walk to another train. It looked really horrible. I was horrible. I'm not, I'm not a real story. This is a real story. This isn't an airline story, but that makes me want to take a flight more than the channel. In the second, one is a roller coaster at Six Flags in New Jersey that climbs 19 storeys malfunction in during 14 people. Again something happened there. Something got hurt don't get like roller coasters and cruises are things that we don't need. We just don't need those things. So happy birthday. Matt not you. My birthday first to Warren. Buffett is 92 in honor of Mr. Four square and 12 years. Here's one of the folks the folksy billionaires, most lovable slash most stupidest quotes. Here we go. Yeah, he actually said this and he's actually celebrated for this mat ready? Rule number one, never lose money. Good rule rule. Number two, never forget. Rule number one. That's a that's hate I could I get if I never heard another foxy saying from our County list teddy bear I'd be happy man. The good news is that we found the only thing stupider than our show and that's where in Buffett Hey. I don't know. I know he's made a lot of money, but the gap between Warren Buffett and like whatever you think, of, of heinous, like capitalists villain is actually very, very small. I'm not sure. That's that big. The Gap is saying, things like rule, number one, never lose money. Rule number two, remember, rule number one. That's that's The Gap. All right. And I also happy birthday to socks. The sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 is you guessed it, 20 years old. Wow. The bird this long governance, the law was enacted as a reaction to a number of major, corporate and accounting scandals. Most infamously Enron and Worldcom. Matt, I'm gonna tell you that the actual names of these acts in both the Senate and the house I'm going to ask you, this would would socks pass today. Listen to the names. Listen to the name of this ACT public Company accounting reform, and investor protection, act and corporate, and auditing accountability responsibility, and transparency act. That's the name of the official names of this. Yeah, go ahead, two things strike me. Number one, the acronyms forums by those two separate acts are terrible. I mean, nobody can remember the PC a car or this car? A r t car socks is one of the best nicknames in the whole world of ESG. It's one of the best. Yeah, it's great. It's great, socks is fine but it's Actually, just named after two humans sarbanes and us, unfortunately, right? So it's rather unattractive human beings. Yes, so, that's that doesn't count. Now, all acts must pass an acronym test, like they usually have to spell out like, freedom and eagle and like, you know, like democracy. So that you can say it really quickly the Democracy act or the eagle act. So already out number two, know that would not pass today. There's way too many things Hester Peirce would write 7,000 words about how this was like to do irreparable harm to me the world. Yeah, we've talked about all the anti ESG, all the anti-walk acts. I mean this one would move. I mean can you imagine the seismic Anger it'd be incredible. I mean this is just ridiculous zero percent chance it would pass it okay. And finally Because everyone wants me to stop talking Matt, which birthday here. Do you care most about? So I'm gonna let you pick which one Warren Buffett or sucked. Which one do you want to celebrate and talk about? Who do you want to throw a party for? I like socks better than Buffett. Okay, go for it Go. All right, so um, I actually I have two groups so I did a little research and see, there are two main groups that are you here. You're the chief. Yes, of course. Yes. Correspondent. Okay. Um, I think there's two groups of people that would celebrate the passage of socks in the US. There would be the back in my day board. Grandparents, that's every director still on a board that has been there since 2002, or before which is socks has passed in 2000. Late 2000, mid 2002. So these are all directors who Basically, remember pre socks the priests. Yeah. And then there's the, the inaugural post socks class of 2003. These are all the directors who were elected in 2003, just 2003 the first class. So, in fact, here's some things to know, there are the back in my day I'll start with the back in my day, these are pre-stock directors, there are currently. 1600 of these directors still on boards today. There are only in the US, they're only 23,000 directors in the US. You say, only 7% of us directors have been there since before sarbanes Oxley. 7. Coincidentally, this is even before the the Red Sox and the White Sox, finally won the World Series, they hadn't won a World Series, like 100 years. This is even before that King socks. Can you think of that? First of all, that, number by itself? Yeah, like almost one in ten directors investors. Where the fuck are you? Why do you keep electing these people? They've been there for like 700 years, get rid of them, you should not have anybody who remembers a time before board accountability, and these are fighting family statement rules. I wonder how many of these are family members not to make this two corporate governance, but I got rid of numbers. In the group. I got rid of Founders and Executives and I got rid of them. Okay, so this is just Dopey people been around for a while, they don't leave, they don't ever leave. In fact do you change it all in the last 20 years? Do you know there's not anything new that's ever come out ever the Enron was cool crowd includes. Yeah 411 of those 1600 directors that's that's if you could do some quick math that's 25% one and four are actually on audit committees today. What are you doing there? Not to disturb you map but can something be said for experience? You know, 4% of these people can say, I remember when no one paid attention to us on these audit committees, good old days. That's who you want. That's the experience you want to put on your audit committee. The good news is, according to our metrics on average, these directors have about 11% of their boards influence, their, they're not highly influential, which is exactly the US director average. So they're basically rotation players. Yeah, it's gonna say you said that just by coming on to the average sized board, your influences around 12%. So this is, they're very, they're very average people. There are average people, these are that which, which is seriously when you think about it you think they would have a job, right? Power over those years. How do you survive for more than 20 years and you have no place here? Well, maybe there are around as like an extra vote for somebody, more powerful because they can always rely on Old Gus over there. He's sleeping in his scrambled eggs Hill. He'll give me his vote every time. Exactly correct. Which means get the fucking read of these people. That's my advice. Get rid of them. Yeah. And then there's the socks class of 2003. This is the class that was elected. Socks passes, summer of 2002 first class of directors to get in 2003. I know this is the 20th, there are 232 of these directors. Yeah, we're still on boards today. And 50% of them are on audit committees. I actually the audit class this makes sense to me, in 2003. They all the sudden had to add directors who had audited experience. Yes. Well we talked about the George Floyd effect that happened due to the the BLM protests, right? We got a lot of black directors on boards. George Floyd affect, this is the socks affect, I like it. This is the socks affect so we can see it and it include people like 90 year old Sandy Robertson. Who's on, the Salesforce is board and Sandy is still sitting on the audit committee. Now, he's not guy. Yeah. Wow, this is what I'm talking about. It's incredible right here. Yeah. In fact you go look at it. You look up Sandy's picture on the Salesforce board of directors right now. He looks like a felt you know like 68 year old and then if you if you look in 2015 he was an like You Michigan gave him an award and there's a video where they asking him stuff, there's a picture of him. He's literally the guy at the end of Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, like after he picks up the wrong, they smell it up like his whole body is like well did He looks like a natural. We're starting to on unveil some new video features for our show here. That's a shame that you couldn't include a picture of him to because we're broadcasting live on video. You're not gonna have a picture of him. I could not do it fast enough, it was a tight morning. It was a type broadcasting early this morning. We are we don't think we usually go on two hours later. Yeah. Go that's true. The good news is that the class of 2003 has exactly the same influences everyone else so we can vote them out too. Because their pointless just get rid of the same rotation players. The 11th influence, same 11% influence. So they didn't got they're not more influential but I do like that. We have an audit class in 2003, Enron Taiko, Worldcom these, all these things happen. So our bands actually passed his, what's the first thing boards do? Because they're highly reactive, they don't think seven seconds ahead of themselves is they bring in a whole bunch of people that they think will fit on an audit Committee in a post socks world. That's the first thing they do and then they do that and leave them on the board for 100 million years because they don't need to think 10 seconds past that. So congratulations. Those are my two happy classes. Happy birthday socks. Happy birthday. Those people back. That's it. We're gonna close this stupid bag. That is August 30th 2022. That's Damien. Rallis I am your BS correspondent. We are free flow media. I don't want to say any more words. So goodbye.