Passenger Trains > Amtrak Advisory today: Who's Left?

The surprise in today's Amtrak advisory to employees: Vice President-Operations Jeff Geary, who was appointed in June 2011,
reporting directly to President Joe Boardman, has quit.

Geary was trying to hold together his Operations team but more and more of them decided to take the early-out. There
was nothing left to hold together.


special employee advisory
December 16, 2011

> Operating Departments Management Changes

> As some non-agreement-covered employees begin to leave the company as
> a result of taking advantage of the Voluntary Separation Incentive
> Plan (VSIP), Amtrak continues to align the organization with the
> Strategic Plan, and is taking steps to ensure continuity of
> operations.
>
> Effective today, Chief Financial Officer DJ Stadtler will take on the
> role of Acting Vice President of Operations, while Controller Gordon
> Hutchinson carries out the day-to-day Finance duties of the Chief
> Financial Officer.
>
> In the near future, Amtrak will be actively recruiting to fill the
> roles of Chief Transportation Officer, General Manager - West, and
> Central Division General Superintendent. Following that effort, a
> Vice President of Operations will also be recruited, following
> today’s departure of Jeff Geary.
>
> Senior-level positions — those held by Vice President of
> Transportation Richard Phelps, General Manager - West Bill Duggan and
> General Superintendent Daryl Pesce — vacated as a result of the VSIP
> are not being immediately filled to enable a competitive job
> selection process.
>
> “I thank Jeff for his hard work and wish him the best in his future
> endeavors. In the midst of this transition, I want to assure all
> Amtrak employees that we are being thoughtful and thorough about the
> changes we’re making in the organization,” said President and CEO Joe
> Boardman. “We have very strong operating departments with talented
> railroaders. While a handful of specific positions may be temporarily
> vacant, I have full confidence that our employees will continue to
> lead and to help deliver safe and reliable service. Change can be
> distracting, but I know that you will remain focused on delivering
> the safe and professional service you deliver every day.”
>
> Employees who previously reported to these positions will report
> directly to DJ Stadtler, as will the Chief Mechanical Officer and the
> Chief Engineer. In this role, DJ will also be working with managers
> to develop a structure that is aligned with the Strategic Plan. In
> the coming days and weeks, DJ will be communicating with employees in
> the operating departments to provide more information about his role.
>
> Amtrak thanks all of the employees who are leaving the company for
> their contributions to the company. We wish them well as they start
> new chapters in their lives.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/11 00:07 by GenePoon.

Wow! Interesting developments.

Bill Duggan was a chief executive of rail operations at NJT for a number of years as I recall. He uprooted and moved to take Amtrak's West coast position.

Prior to NJT, he was with Amtrak at several locations including Los Angeles.

Richard Phelps had 38 years service.

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow! Interesting developments.
>
> Bill Duggan was a chief executive of rail
> operations at NJT for a number of years as I
> recall. He uprooted and moved to take Amtrak's
> West coast position.

Duggan had a high management position at Amtrak before he went to NJT. Good man; spent hours talking with him
on the San Joaquin in the late 1990s...from Merced almost to Bakersfield, in fact!

It doesn't matter. Amtrak days are numbered. What happened to Caltrain will happen to CALIFORNIA RAIL when the Government puts it up for bid. In other words, if no money to back you, you can't bid. Trans America will be the new Calif. rail. Just follow the money trail. Caltrain was not just a whim. The money trail will tell you how you have to go to survive. Think about this!

The Amtrak Board is restless, too.

Don Phillips, in TRAINS Newsline tonight:

> Amtrak's top operations official, Jeff Geary, suddenly left the company on Friday. Several
> sources said he was either fired or given the opportunity to resign.

> Geary, who came to Amtrak only about six months ago, was blamed for not moving fast enough
> in developing a new strategic plan, the sources said. His departure came at the end of a two-day
> meeting of Amtrak's board of directors, during which there were numerous questions about Amtrak's
> plans as positions are eliminated during the current round of management buyouts.

Another commentator on the passenger rail scene writes:

> The Vice President of Operations -- the Number Two guy in the company -- is gone.
>
> The Vice President of Transportation -- the Number Three guy in the company -- is gone.
>
> General Manager -- West -- the guy who runs things on the West Coast -- is gone.
>
> The Central Division General Superintendent -- the guy who runs Chicago -- is gone.
>
> Over 150 other front line and senior managers are gone, too.
>
> The Chief Financial Officer -- the money guy -- is now temporarily running operations as Acting Vice President of Operations.
>
> The Controller is now the acting Chief Financial Officer because the real Chief Financial Officer is temporarily the Acting Vice President
> of Operations.
>
> The money guy is running the railroad, and he's reporting to the guy who has spent the vast majority of his career as a public employee
> bureaucrat with no railroad operating experience -- Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Amtrak Board is restless, too.
>
> Don Phillips, in TRAINS Newsline tonight:
>
> > Amtrak's top operations official, Jeff Geary,
> suddenly left the company on Friday. Several
> > sources said he was either fired or given the
> opportunity to resign.
>
> > Geary, who came to Amtrak only about six months
> ago, was blamed for not moving fast enough
> > in developing a new strategic plan, the sources
> said. His departure came at the end of a two-day
> > meeting of Amtrak's board of directors, during
> which there were numerous questions about Amtrak's
>
> > plans as positions are eliminated during the
> current round of management buyouts.
>
> Another commentator on the passenger rail scene
> writes:
>
> > The Vice President of Operations -- the Number
> Two guy in the company -- is gone.
> >
> > The Vice President of Transportation -- the
> Number Three guy in the company -- is gone.
> >
> > General Manager -- West -- the guy who runs
> things on the West Coast -- is gone.
> >
> > The Central Division General Superintendent --
> the guy who runs Chicago -- is gone.
> >
> > Over 150 other front line and senior managers
> are gone, too.
> >
> > The Chief Financial Officer -- the money guy --
> is now temporarily running operations as Acting
> Vice President of Operations.
> >
> > The Controller is now the acting Chief Financial
> Officer because the real Chief Financial Officer
> is temporarily the Acting Vice President
> > of Operations.
> >
> > The money guy is running the railroad, and he's
> reporting to the guy who has spent the vast
> majority of his career as a public employee
> > bureaucrat with no railroad operating experience
> -- Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

Well, in all due respect, it is not uncommon for corporations to move their CFO into a COO role. And in some cases the CFO has a dual role as CFO and COO. Even a VP of Finance role takes on the "Administration" tasks. The natural progression for a Conroller is to move into a CFO position.

However, this is the railroad industry, which could be categorized as a little bit of a different animal. For example, there should be "operational roles" within a railroad, and these positions should be held by people who have some experience in the railroad industry. But I can cite some private and public companies that recruited a COO that came from a different industry. Odd? Perhaps. Does it work - it can.

Nonetheless it is unsettling that a LOT of experienced Senior Management people at Amtrak have recently departed.

Is Brian Rosenwald still around? I hope he is. And if he is, what position does he hold in the organization. I always thought pretty highly of Rosenwald. With some trimming that Amtrak has done, will the consultants start making their debut again? Hopefully Amtrak doesn't make this mistake again. Perhaps though they can lure David Gunn into a consultant role of some sort (HAH!).

One also has to wonder if there will be any changes on the Amtrak Board as a result of all these happenings........

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Is Brian Rosenwald still around?
==========================

Rosenwald did not take the buyout.

===================================

> One also has to wonder if there will be any changes on the Amtrak Board as a result of all
> these happenings.....

===================================

OR: what changes the Amtrak Board may make as a result of all these happenings.

mundo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Richard Phelps had 38 years service.

...and he is a major, MAJOR loss to Amtrak.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Is Brian Rosenwald still around?
> ==========================
>
> Rosenwald did not take the buyout.
>
> ===================================
>
> > One also has to wonder if there will be any
> changes on the Amtrak Board as a result of all
> > these happenings.....
>
> ===================================
>
> OR: what changes the Amtrak Board may make as a
> result of all these happenings.

If recent actions of the Board are indications of its future, the Board will focus more on Boardman's status with Amtrak than anything else, in my opinion.

Friday 12/16/11 a date that will be long remembered at Amtrak as the " night of the long knives".

LDT's...ride 'em while you can!!

Ross Rowland

It will be interesting to see if the upheaval will result in service degradation. The Acela performance will be a good measure. Amtrak has no one else to blame if Acela reliability slides downhill.

Talk about re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic, which went down 100 years ago this coming April.

>>His departure came at the end of a two-day
> meeting of Amtrak's board of directors, during which there were numerous questions about Amtrak's
> plans as positions are eliminated during the current round of management buyouts. <<

That would be an interesting place to be a fly on the wall.

Board meetings are usually nice, pleasant, refined gatherings. Directors discuss golf in Florida, Arizona, and south of France, maybe some news, a new restaurant, etc. The CEO offers a nice overview of the recent past, and the outlook. The CFO discusses money issues, banking relationships, may introduce a banker to talk about a financing option. The Operations guy may talk about business, customers, variations from the plan, etc. The sales guy offers a short report on new customers, thanks the board for referrals and help with new opportunities.

The board members may have a nice catered lunch, and pick up their checks on their way to the limos parked outside.


This meeting doesn't sound like it went that way. Since several of the Board members have experience in downsizing companies, they may want to ask why Boardman and his new HR guy screwed it up so terribly.

Make no mistakes, this is a disaster. Boardman is probably considering his own severance package right now...

I'd be surprised if Acela Express performance suffers.

The Northeast Corridor is a pretty much self-contained operation within Amtrak. The Engineering Department and the NEC divisions understand what needs to be done, and they do it every day. Yes, there are hiccups with catenary and signal issues, but the railroad keeps receiving investments and the engineering work continues. Geary was too new to have much impact on the NEC, and Phelps didn't deal much with it, either, other than in terms of oversight of the NEC's General Manager. But I don't believe that Phelps' departure is a cause of concern to the NEC.

No high-level NEC managers are reported to have departed. The General Manager of the Eastern Region, the NEC Division Superintendents and the Chief Engineer are in place. Very little has changed in the NEC. It's doing a good job of serving many customers, and I think it'll continue to do so with little change.

knotch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd be surprised if Acela Express performance
> suffers.
>
> The Northeast Corridor is a pretty much
> self-contained operation within Amtrak. The
> Engineering Department and the NEC divisions
> understand what needs to be done, and they do it
> every day. Yes, there are hiccups with catenary
> and signal issues, but the railroad keeps
> receiving investments and the engineering work
> continues. Geary was too new to have much impact
> on the NEC, and Phelps didn't deal much with it,
> either, other than in terms of oversight of the
> NEC's General Manager. But I don't believe that
> Phelps' departure is a cause of concern to the
> NEC.
>
> No high-level NEC managers are reported to have
> departed. The General Manager of the Eastern
> Region, the NEC Division Superintendents and the
> Chief Engineer are in place. Very little has
> changed in the NEC. It's doing a good job of
> serving many customers, and I think it'll continue
> to do so with little change.


I suspect there's enough esprit de corps on the NEC teams that they're looking at this a little differently.

Even if the Amtrak ship sinks, there will still be a NEC, still be Acela trains, still be regional trains, still be people out in all weather checking the tracks, still be people selling and taking tickets. Just like PennCentral before them, the NEC will be there when the dust clears away.

That would definitely not be the same attitude for people in New Orleans or El Paso or Albuquerque, though.

One thing I have always say is that Amtrak had way to much mangement for the service they provide. I think this is a good move.

Chris

prr60 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It will be interesting to see if the upheaval will result in service degradation. The Acela
> performance will be a good measure. Amtrak has no one else to blame if Acela reliability slides
> downhill.


Amtrak hired an ex-Navy specialist in Reliability Centered Maintenance to implement that program
when it decided to handle Acela maintenance on its own. What he did to raise Acela reliability and
availability from its former dismal performance under Amtrak/Bombardier management is well documented.

However, he left under the early buyout...largely because Boardman had already terminated Reliability
Centered Maintenance despite its proven track record on Acela, and its beginning to make inroads at
Chicago.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> prr60 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It will be interesting to see if the upheaval
> will result in service degradation. The Acela
> > performance will be a good measure. Amtrak has
> no one else to blame if Acela reliability slides
> > downhill.
>
>
> Amtrak hired an ex-Navy specialist in Reliability
> Centered Maintenance to implement that program
> when it decided to handle Acela maintenance on its
> own. What he did to raise Acela reliability and
> availability from its former dismal performance
> under Amtrak/Bombardier management is well
> documented.
>
> However, he left under the early buyout...largely
> because Boardman had already terminated
> Reliability
> Centered Maintenance despite its proven track
> record on Acela, and its beginning to make inroads
> at
> Chicago.


Well, with a politician at the controls and a green-eyeshade as COO, I'm sure things be just fine!
LOL