Jerry Atkins told ASA pilots when we were first aquired that we had to take pay cuts to be "competitive." He said this to the pilot group in person. He also tried to do away with the seperate pay for 70 seat aircraft. Tony, you really need to talk to the senior guys at your airline. Earlier this decade JA did lie and screw over the SKW pilot group. He promised a pay raise on the 70 seat aircraft if your pilot group would only fly them at the 50 seat rate for 2 years to help out initially. Well, 2 years came and went. I believe it took almost 5 years for that 70 seat rate to show up. Now you have a 5% pay bump for a piece of equipment that carries 40% more revenue and according to industry statistics makes about 15-20% more profit. Jerry would NEVER do something so shortsighted, except he already did. As I stated, SKW used to be much better than it is now, but it seems JA is starting to nickle and dime his own group unless he can nickle and dime another group first. ASA payrates on the 70 seater got a measly 1.5% bump after 7 years (5 years negotiating a contract, 2 years of that with SKW management.) Wow...that really went up. 1.5% raise every 7 years, unless JA needs you to hold the line to "help" him better your career.

You may not like ALPA, I don't either. Some representation is necessary to keep injustices from management in check. If SKW were for some reason face a liquidity crisis from any number of sources that are possible in this industry, what is to keep JA from telling you your concessions are for the good of the company and then it takes awhile to return to the status quo after liquidity is restored? Just one example. Read a book called "Blind Trust." This book was meant to give the flying public insight into the airline industry. It will also give the new generation of pilots the fundamental reasons why this industry is unionized. Why is JA so anti-union if he has your best interests at heart? As long as he acts professionally there is no strife. SWA is a prime example. Could it be that JA is holding back a little too much from your group and knows that a negotiating team with the force of law behind them (RLA) might show he hasn't shared the pie equally? I personally don't know the answer to this question, but seeing the strong arming that went on with ASA, I tend to think he protests a bit too much about unions. Herb Kelleher never protested about unions. He worked with them and still gave them profit sharing and had very few problems. Food for thought.

Airlines are unionized because airline management has shown it cannot be trusted without supervision. Historically and presently. I hope the kool-aid hangover is short.