I'm not surpirsed the ALPA suit lost---judges are more about "Law" than "What is the best SOP?" There isn't a clear "law" which governs this.

But from the get-go, I wondered: couldn't ALPA have gone to the POI(s) and voiced a complaint? The FAA, after all, is mostly concerned about "best SOP." The legal-ese of the Feds is crafted after they have decided upon the (supposedly) best course of action.

So, my question: could ALPA have gone directly to the POIs of both carriers? Can they still? Or are pilots barred, by company policy, or FAA mandate, from talking to the Feds?

One would think, if a whistle-blower said to a POI: "My company is doing something ill-advised, we've told them, they won't stop, and we are concerned," that said POI would be required to step-in.