I like the way you think. Don't let high-paid captains intimidate you. Union pay-scales need to be flattened substantially.

You're right. The "Old union ways" are just that; antiques. They have shown themselves weak in the face of the newest forces at the NMB and the 1984 Bankruptcy Act. That being said, if "labor" forces corporations to pay us more, ridership will plummet. Why will ridership plummet? Because ticket prices would have to increase. Since airlines already are losing money hand over first, the costs would have to be returned to the flying public. The only thing that will ever turn this ship in the USA around, is the restoration of the middle-class in the USA. The airlines have been historic "economic indicators". When airlines can and will be able to charge more for a ticket, because they know most Americans can afford it, then they will return to a profitable level, visa vi late 90's. Once profits are possible again, then the language of the RLA allows pilots to share in the profit.

When last I found myself commuting, I told the passengers sitting next to me, "What we airline employees really want to see is you folks getting better. When you guys do better, so do we." I left out the part about ticket prices going up in order to accommodate a better income for airline employees. LoL!