Originally Posted by Cujo665

What needs to change is the RLA. It was written at a time when you couldn't tell a TWA pilot "take these concessions, or we give your flying to Pan Am." The RLA is designed to promote the status quo. On the rail side it prohibits closing of stations and routes during negotiations. No such protections exist on the air side, they close bases/stations and threaten - or do - transfer flying to other carriers in a whipsaw. The RLA never envisioned the outsourced business model infecting our industry.

The problem is, ALPA and the other union lawyers won't fight to fix it. They've become very comfortable with the current RLA decisions and it makes them confident what will and won't fly (excuse the pun). That said, they've forgotten that they exist to improve our lives, and make our lives easier and more comfortable; not to make it easy for the lawyers.

I literally sat and listened to 3 hours of one lawyer after another at ALPA national explaining why they didn't want to mess with the RLA because they have a really good grasp of how to work within it now. Totally BS arguments. The only argument they put forth that did hold some water was that if the unions want modifications to the RLA, that managements will push to modify things their way, and the lawyers are afraid of what could happen.