An Open Letter to the Six Flags Board of Directors and Investors

The sentiments shared in this letter are shared by most if not all of the Six Flags Team Members and many of our guests.

You ousted Mike Spanos and named Selim Bassoul CEO of our company in November 2021 after we had a great year. Selim addressed all of us in a virtual Town Hall shortly after and told us why he felt the change was necessary. He stated that spending was out of control. We know he didn't take the time to learn why and where the money was being spent. He complained about a 300 page report that was submitted to the board and told us he doesn't read reports. Did any of you read the report? While we don't know, specifically, what was in the report, we can tell you where the money was being spent. It was being spent on rehab and repair of our infrastructure that has been neglected for many, MANY years! Would any of you allow your homes to fall into such disrepair? I doubt it.

Selim had a lot to say in a later virtual town hall with all the parks. He made some good points which all of us agreed with, but much of what he went on about was absolutely ridiculous and laughable. He would have heard everyone at every park laughing AT him had the parks not been muted. He went on at length about guests wanting 2-ply toilet paper. He spent a great deal of time complaining about guests dumping ice from their cups in the bushes. He rambled a lot about wanting various things that aren't going to generate revenue, only decrease it.

There was plenty to like about the ideas and thoughts Selim shared with us, including his past successes as a business person. Who wouldn't like the bonus program he implemented at a previous company that increased the bonus potential for every employee every year until the bonus reached $10,000? All of us could certainly get on board with that. There's only one problem. We’ll never achieve the goals necessary to qualify for the bonus due to Selim’s leadership or lack thereof.

Selim made it clear that he realizes he has a lot to learn and would rely on those of us who have lots of experience in the business to teach him, but he's only done the opposite. He eliminated layers of team members, including Bonnie Weber who is one of the best in the business, and now has all the Park Presidents reporting directly to him. It didn't take long for the Park Presidents to realize they're better off not offering ideas or thoughts to him. Why? He fires them, yet he can't seem to understand why nobody offers suggestions anymore.

We had a great 2021 season yet Selim felt it was necessary to freeze wages in 2022 after we went for 2 years without wage increases due to COVID. Nobody complained about the 2-year freeze because it was understandable. It's not acceptable, however, to freeze wages after we had a great return and then expect everyone to rely on a generous bonus every year. While a large bonus every year would be great, our next CEO might not like that method of compensation and eliminate it. Will our salaries be adjusted at that point or will our compensation remain several years behind? We all know the answer to that. Thankfully, he backed down and gave most hourly employees a 75 cent/hour increase after quite a bit of pushback. He still left salaried employees without.

Morale is at an all-time low at Six Flags. We've lost a lot of great people to reductions in workforce and other great, skilled team members are preparing to leave because they aren't happy working for Six Flags anymore and they can't afford to continue working for Six Flags. They have families to support, but it's become increasingly difficult to do so given the current state of the economy.

The performance of Six Flags will continue to plummet, as will the stock price, as we continue to lose such skilled, experienced labor. We can't hire enough people to run all of our attractions and retail locations. It's become increasingly difficult to hire skilled labor to maintain our infrastructure and rides. We're just hiring bodies at this point to fill the positions, and that's not good. A high percentage of the people we're hiring aren't able to perform well, but we don't have a choice. It's severely impacting the service we offer our guests.

What is the #1 thing people come to Six Flags for? They come for our rides in case you didn't know. We can't hire enough people to run all our rides, let alone maintain and inspect them. We're losing valuable labor there, too. More are preparing to leave. Some of the people inspecting the rides are certainly trained and qualified, but don't necessarily have enough experience to adequately perform a thorough inspection. That’s scary. Safety is going to suffer and there’s nothing worse for an amusement park than an accident. We hope it doesn’t happen, but it probably will.

Selim expressed that he wants Six Flags to be considered a premium product like Disney and Universal. That simply isn’t going to happen under Selim’s leadership. We’re charging our guests more and offering far less. Our attendance has been abysmal and many of our guests won’t be returning. The proof is on social media. People aren’t happy with the product and service we’re offering and our attendance proves it. Cedar Fair is doing quite well this year, so you can’t blame the economy.

Selim released a rather dumb video to us with him saying, “Have no fear!” numerous times throughout. Unfortunately, we have plenty to fear as long as he remains in charge. He wants us to do more with less as he said in the virtual town hall. He also expects guests to pay more and get less. We all want Six Flags to succeed, but it won’t while Selim is CEO unless he changes his ways.

Selim is the laughing stock of the entire company. None of us have an ounce of respect for him, but we certainly fear him. He reminds us a lot of Mark Shapiro in both his energetic style of speaking and his leadership style. It makes us wonder if we’re heading down the same road.

It is up to you, the board, to fix this. There will be consequences if you fail to do so. Our stock price is already 40% lower than it was a year ago. Stay on course if the goal is to drive us into the ground.

Investors, we ask you to hold the board accountable and demand a change in leadership. Cut your losses and sell every share in Six Flags if they fail to do so. We are capable of providing you with an excellent ROI, but not while Selim is in charge.

#StepDownSelim