I worked in IT for many years before going to the airlines. Not one of my employers had unions. I made well over 6 figures in IT. My first professional job in IT had a salary in the high 5 figures. It would be comparable to a regional FO job but with much better pay. As I moved up in my career I was able to leave every job for a higher paying job. Still no union.

Pay was based on market demand. During the Y2K and the dot.com days companies were offering car leases as part of sign on bonuses. I had many companies pay 100% of my medical benefits. Other than my college education 100% of my training was paid for by my employer. That included single occupancy rooms at good hotels, all meals paid for and a rental car should I choose. In most cases the employer would have paid for my college education too. Still no union.

I never had to negotiate for anything on my job and raises were regular and expected based on specific criteria in the employee manual. I also got additional raises based on merit.

All without a union.

To be clear I am not advocating to get rid of all unions in aviation. I am only advocating for pilots to have a choice. But I suspect the unions are afraid of that.

I do see the benefits of collective bargaining but I don’t think without it we will see an apocalypse. In fact I think if the seniority system went away airlines will increasingly fall over over themselves to poach pilots from competing airlines. We are already seeing this with bonuses for prior 121 time at many regionals. If things continue the way they are we will likely see legacies doing the same.