Originally Posted by
Smooth at FL450
It's how many people voted yes for TA1, an awful TA. It's also a stale argument, in my opinion, to think the pilot group has the same appetite for mediocrity given recent events of the past couple years. 1400 pilots showing up to the first picket of this round should tell them things are different, but they like to sing that same song.
I agree that 1,400 pilots showing up for a picket is a good thing. However, how many pickets will it take for management to feel enough pressure to hand us an industry-leading contract with lifetime career compensation, retirement, work rules, disability, and ancillary provisions worthy of our contribution to the success of SWA?
After a certain number of pickets, will our pilots grow tired of attending them? Will they continue to get the attention the last one did in the media and in the public eye? Will management begin to look at them as us crying wolf?
Even if we file for mediation now, is this pilot group patient enough to wait the two to three years minimum for that leverage to mature? Or will they lose patience and settle for a lesser offer in the interim?
Is the pilot shortage really an issue that executives in the airline industry believe is a critical issue? If you answer yes, then why did Scott Kirby and the corporate board of directors at UAL allow a near-concessionary TA to go to the membership for a ratification vote if they are truly concerned about attracting pilots from the supposedly very limited pool of pilots all the major airlines are competing for?
Are we banking on the “one-two punch” idea of a pilot shortage combined with pickets to take us into the end zone? Is that enough? How long will that take to produce a worthy contract? Is this pilot group patient enough?