Originally Posted by
rickair7777
You're fantasizing, this has never been the case, and probably never will be.
- Union leaders don't hire pilots, managers do...you get one guess what they think about unions.
- Most pilots, if they are professional enough to get involved in hiring, are not likely to hold a carrier's union status against one single individual pilot who personally didn't have much say in the matter.
t's remotely possible that someday a major pilot group will give up compensation while negotiating a CBA in order to secure a contractual requirement that their company only hire union or ALPA pilots. But for that to happen a majority of pilots at some major are going to have to decide that it's worth giving up some money for. If you think that's going to happen, you're not just fantasizing, you're delusional and probably need to have your FAA medical status reviewed
Ask anybody who has interviewed at the majors (DAL/UAL etc..) if they didn't have a Capt. interviewer...maybe along with an HR interviewer. The line pilot does have veto power just as the HR person would. Plus, I think some of these majors have a pilot board that interviewees must pass.
Now add a dynamic of a regional partner flying struck work, if a strike should happen. What do you think the odds are of said pilot at said feeder flying struck work being hired?
Now, if said feeder was non-union and therefore could not refuse flying only because said pilot group voted down representation a few years ago that would otherwise allow them to refuse flying struck work, how do you think that goes over with a mainline pilot?
Granted, its not a highly likely scenario but then think about the 70 seaters in IAH or EWR on the UCAL system. What would those pilots do if UCAL suddenly puts CAL code on those flights in clear violation of CAL scope language? Would pilots in a unionized shop have more leverage to refuse flying than the non-union outfit? I think the answer is obvious.