Originally Posted by
Lab Rat
Yes. Your examples cited above are unique only to the airline industry. The original poster is posed with a question regarding the effects of unions on business in a much broader sense.
Again, as I alluded to earlier, where is the incentive to offer high pay and excellent benefits when people are lined up out the door willing and ready to accept flying jobs for even lower pay and work rules? How many kids coming out of aviation colleges would accept a job right out of school at a major without even caring about pay and benefits?
The reason why people like Lorenzo and J.O. are able to do what they do is because the collective pilot work force gives them a blank check to do so.
All sectors of the transportation industry in the United States are covered by unions, cab drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, pilots, delivery drivers, train operators, now why do you think that is? Could it be that although not the same, the business models are similar across the board..hmmm...imagine that? CEO's trying to maximize profit and in absence of positive margins, creating yields by attempting to take concessions from their work force. History has shown that to be the case at one point or another in all sectors of the transportation industry in the US.
As far as your reasoning behind folks like Lorenzo and J.O., well J.O. does fall under the category of pilots being our own worst enemy to a certain degree but not entirely; Lorenzo on the other hand, I suspect you're either too young to remember or do not know your history. You may want to brush up on your history.