I'm not a business major, but I will ask one question...
Exactly HOW LONG did those great contracts rate last? Even before those sons of *****es hit the towers, Delta and United were hurting and the economy was slowing as the stock market bubble imploded.
I'm a strong ALPA guy. I love my company, but I understand that my UNION (and the other unions out there) created these great work rules and benefits, not the benevolence of my employer. Still...to pay 300 bills an hour, a company has got to make money, period. You cannot pay what you don't have. No furlough clauses, A plans, pay scales, and work rules all get flushed as soon as chapter 11 is declared, and judges--not MEC presidents--make the call.
I don't know exactly WHERE the line between "nice" and "unfeasible" lies. You have to have negotiators who are business saavy enough to find a solid compensation package that will not kill the golden goose. At the same time--we all know that some companies have gutted employee benefits while rewarding poor management along the way. That ain't right either...
However--the whole "FedEx and UPS (and SWA as well) are just catching up..." ignores a point. FedEx, UPS, SWA, and even JB and Airtran pilots have had a job the last 5-7 years. If you look at career earnings, the guy who was hired at Jetblue in 2001 may just end up making more for 5, 10, or even 15 years than the poor bastard furloughed for 5-7 years at AA, DAL, or UAL. I am quite confident that the guys at SWA, UPS, and FDX certainly will.
What is my point? When you choose a company, pay scales are a tiny part of the matrix. Q of life, benefits, employee relations, and stability are all also a big part of the decision. There are a lot of guys at SWA, FDX, and UPS who made a DELIBERATE decsion to choose stability over high pay scales. For the last 6 years, it appears that they made a good choice. Chasing Delta or UAL payscales in 2000 was a lot like buying Qualcomm at 200+ bucks...it was sweet while it lasted but it just really wasn't sustainable. However--the trip pay at SWA and better than 200 bucks an hour at UPS/FDX apparently ARE sustainable with their business models. I hope that doesn't change for the worse.