UnusualAttitude

Johnny come lately here looking over at the neighbor's yard = Pilots expecting FDX ALPA to take advantage of pattern bargaining.

"Pattern Bargaining: Collective bargaining in which the union tries to apply similar pay and work rules to multiple employers in the same industry. ALPA, through the national Collective Bargaining Committee, works to establish, maintain, and advance the prevailing pay rates and working conditions for each segment of the industry by coordinating bargaining strategies with MECs and Negotiating Committees across ALPA properties." Source: ALPA Negotiations Training Seminar Glossary


The history of furloughs is very likely not doomed to repeat itself in my view. The passenger airline industry has changed in two very significant ways. First, consolidation has created 4 massive carriers that all contribute massively to the US economy and more importantly to the systematic functioning of the US economy. The Covid-19 pandemic saw exactly zero pilots furloughed from major passenger carriers. The government (doesn't matter what your feeling are on government bailouts, they happened) determined that providing money to the passenger airlines was important to avoid bankruptcies and further widespread damage to the economy. Don't be mistaken, the only reason the money was earmarked for salaries was because it's the easiest political sell. Who votes for these politicians? People do. If the money had been given and told it was for "debt servicing" the employees would have revolted. In the end, it didn't really matter what the money was for. The passenger airline CEO's went to congress and said this is how much we need to meet all current obligations. The government provided that amount. Secondly, record numbers of retirements due to past industry stagnation are coming. In the post 9/11 world airlines knew they wouldn't need pilots for a long time. They gutted the career. It doesn't take the IQ of a rocket scientist to fly airplanes but there is some relative intelligence required. I work with some of the smartest people in the world and I know many of them would have been successful doing other things. That being said, throughout the early 2000's many intelligent people who may have had an interest in flying knew that they could do better for themselves and their families in other career fields. Now we have a major shortage and you see what are basically European style airline sponsored ab initio training programs sprouting up around the US. Even with some economic headwinds, the need to replace retiring pilots will outpace most setbacks for many years to come.

To you last point, "they actually fly passengers", are you suggesting that because we fly freight we should be so thankful that we accept to fly at a discount? These passenger pilots also spend the majority of their career flying in the day time and not wrecking their body clock 15-19 days a month. Many of them commute in the day their trip begins and sleep in their own bed the day their trip ends. In a decade of flying passengers I can count on one hand the number of issues I have had with flight attendants or passengers. How many stories have you heard of pilot v pilot conflicts? My guess is plenty. It's time for us to stop acting like not having to "deal with passengers and flight attendants" is some type of contractual benefit. I wonder what the guys who hate other humans so much are like at home?