Originally Posted by Itsajob

Politics has less to do with your odds of getting released than the size of the company. A strike by a small company like Atlas isn’t quite the impact on the economy as a strike by Delta or United. A strike vote by the pilots at Delta or United is just a show of unity and a way to beat their chest publicly, but management and the investors know that a strike will never be allowed, and therefore not a real threat. Atlas is different. A small company has the real potential of being released, and therefore a strike vote is something for the management and investors to take seriously.

As to theory of party interference with a pilot strike, history doesn’t fit the narrative that a group is more likely to be able to strike under a Democrat than a Republican. Eastern, United, Continental, Comair, and Polar all walked with no presidential interference under Republican administrations. American and Spirit both struck under Democrats. President Clinton immediately stopped the American strike, and President Obama did not interfere with Spirit.