Originally Posted by
sailingfun
The Pilots at SW never really got a fat contract. The mechanics, gate agents and flight attendants were all paid near top industry rates. The pilots were not. The SWAPA contract you refer to brought the pilots up to about 20 percent below the going rates at UAL, Delta, USAIR. Their contract became fat only because management hit the lottery with the fuel hedges and used those hedges to put everyone else into Chapter 11. Negotiating a contract 20 percent below what much of the rest of the industry is paying is rarely thought of as a fat contract.
Here we go again with the same old tired argument.
If one was to average out the legacies pay over the last 25 years you would see that the "high" wage blip in the early 2000's only brings the average up a few percentage points. SWA pilot wages have been steady (the tortoise) and in an upward direction up until now. Legacy pay (the hare) has up and down movements that would make me reluctant to count on the high points being maintained. Call it the lottery if you wish but SWA management used a tool (cash) available to them and were successful overall. The idea that they would use it to take money off the table? Some proof of that being their intent would be nice. Just because other managements have played dirty pool doesn't mean all managements do.
Little 'ol SWA put everyone else into Chapter 11? Really? 9-11, poor management decisions, etc. just might have had something to do with it. Oh yes! Don't forget competition. When a competitor offers a similar product for less money the consumer just might try them. Even SWA is not immune to the competitor who comes into a market and offers their product for less. It is happening right now. How management reacts to that competition is the question. I would say that some managements have reacted poorly, if at all, to the threats.
The Oscar