Originally Posted by
Gundam
The power of labor isn't lobbyists and expensive dinners. That's for cigar chompers. The power of labor is labor. The ability to collectively bring things to a halt. Unfortunately pilots love obedience and would probably prefer gimp suits as uniforms. If pilots reached out to truckers and others that make infrastructure function I think you would find it a lot more effective than lobbyists making a few "campaign contributions." The problem in this country is no one really thinks things can get better, they are afraid of losing before they even try, and so they don't. They won't risk anything and only get what fortune gives them. Contrary to popular belief, you can in fact lose if you don't play. Just because current conditions happen to be favorable doesn't mean they will be later. People determine economic conditions when they act together. If a union of people doesn't act a corporation of people will and does and is.
Foreign carrier work rules are somewhere below the wages of burger flippers when it comes to what we are paid.
So I take that instead of legislative action you’re advocating for industry wide illegal job actions. Good luck with that.
Truckers are a VERY bad comparison because all you need is a Class A CDL and a bank loan on a truck and just like magic; you’re a trucking company. Despite some large layers in that market, there are a HUGE number of independents that make that analogy closer to Pt 91 flying than anything resembling an airline.
As to things getting worse, sure, that’s entirely possible, but because the supply of pilots is semi constrained, and currently we have a bunch hitting mandatory retirement, supply issues should be working in our favor for a while now. The trick will be to avoid some kind of MPL scheme that makes junior pilots very beholden to their employers. I confident that we can avoid that.
As to foreign work rules, the idea of making them have to comply with 117 for US routes is simply to add another regulatory cost to operating in the US, one that US carrriers have to comply with as well.
As you rightly point out, pilots can be our own worst enemies, but might I suggest that if you ever hit the casinos in Vegas, play the hand you actually have, not the one you WISH you had.