Originally Posted by
Attny
Thanks for the kind words.
Air transportation and piloting are interests of mine both professionally and personally from having performed legal work in the industry.
On this particular board I'm truly surprised about what appears to be economic naivete when it comes to the piloting profession and industry in general. I guess I thought there might be a little more reasoned analysis and less "longing for the old days" as a simple way of describing the regulated environment of many years ago.
In an industry that is essentially unregulated economically, competition and markets determine everything. Without a hard shortage of labor, "longing for the old days" won't get much traction.
Hope to look in now and then.
Thanks.
Most of us were hired after 1978, so "longing for the old days" isn't in the mix.
If the airline industry was truly unregulated economically you might have a point. But with the RLA written to avoid work stoppages (favoring the airlines in contract negotiations), we are definitely regulated in our ability to pressure the airlines into negotiating in good faith. So they don't, and the process drags on for years while the companies (and executives) pocket the money they should have been paying the employees in increased wages and benefits.
Then there's the abuse of the CH 11 Bankruptcy process. See the PBS Frontline special on the UAL BK:
news + public affairs player: video. The lead BK counsel was billing UAL $800/hour and Tilton had no problem paying that. From his perspective, the result was worth every penny.
It would be interesting to see the reaction from the legal profession if the govt decided to regulate legal fees. Since most of the pols are attorneys, we know that will never happen. From a financial perspective, you picked the right career.