Some more light reading for people interested in the subject: http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/un...epeal-rla.html

I disagree with those who say "Be careful what you wish for" and "it's better than the alternative." What alternative? Being able to defend our professions with the same leverage other unions have? I can't think of a profession more perennially under assault than ours, and that's because management has every legal ability to do it. And Packrat, come on. We sure wouldn't want those pesky unions to abuse managemment.

So the true substantive question that nobody seems to have addressed: How do we adjust/get rid of it?

That's tough because airlines have more lobbyist money than ALPA does. Still, men like Sully are closely listened to in Congress, and influence like that needs to be capitalized on (he's been fighting the good fight, but it's not enough). Certain union representatives have called for discussion on the matter (recently APA's VP Neil Roghair), but as has been mentioned the various airline unions don't want to tackle the beast. They'd rather waste their time and resources fighting 3rd class medical policy and the like. But changing ALPA leadership appears to be an uphill battle with obstacles including bureaucracy, apathy, ignorance, corruption, and conflicts of interest. Similar to our political system. I hate to be one of those people that trumpets "spreading awareness" as a solution, but I guess it's a start. The more people talk about it, the more the unions are forced to address it. But it needs to be done at the National level, and that's where it's especially hard for Joe Pilot to get his voice heard or ideas spread.

It's doubly difficult because the government knows deep down that if we could strike, airfares would eventually reflect the true expenses of traveling near the speed of sound at the edge of space across vast distances in relative comfort. Because pilot wages have been artificially suppressed by the Railway Labor Act, tickets have been artificially cheap for years. That helps Joe Passenger go see grandma once a year with his family, and Congress doesn't want to lose that. But I'm sorry, there's a cost to doing business. Maybe some of those record profits should go to pilots instead of charities and stock buybacks and astronomical corporate bonuses. But this is another tough aspect of repealing the law.

You'd almost need to prove current pilot wages create a safety concern (i.e. incident from loss of situational awareness due to preoccupation with making ends meet, or a fatigue-related accident because the pilot didn't get adequate rest from typical crashpad problems like snoring roommates and people coming in/leaving). The problem is Colgan is likely the closest example we'll ever get to these scenarios. It raised concerns, but the resulting legislation focused on training time and rest requirements, not any sort of pilot minimum wage.

If we didn't get it then, I don't know if we ever will. So all that being said, I'm not sure what could force Congress's hand on the issue, particularly if ALPA refuses to apply any pressure. It sure would help if ALPA at least made it a bullet point on its list of priorities.