yup. There is a reason we haven’t had a strike vote. 60% turnout ain’t gonna do it. We are inching in the right direction but there is still work to be done. These absolutely brutal trips and report times affecting even the most senior will certainly help our cause.

That is exactly spot on! Things aren’t bad enough for guys in polling data to vote for a strike.

So when we hit a really bad recession we lose more bargaining power. I am frustrated with this as well.

I am sorry but these are the same economist and bankers that a year ago we’re saying we would NOT see a recession. People like the CEO Jamie Dimon of chase who now say we are headed to a hurricane but we don’t know how bad it is! The reality is no one knows and it’s all an economic guess. This recession could make 2008 look like it was nothing. Hopefully for the sake of our industry it’s not bad!

Thats why I said “big if.” You’re right, the recession could be much worse than 2008. It could also be much more mild. The experts are saying what they’re saying. They’ve often been wrong.

I don’t care what the recession turns out to be. As long as inflation and prices keep doing what they’ve done, then I demand to be paid more. MUCH more.

Conducting a strike authorization vote before entering mediation is putting the cart before the horse. From the time we enter mediation until a release to self help might be a realistic possibility is, as Whack said, two to three years.

Without real RLA education (it would need to be much more in depth than explaining the RLA flow chart), most of this pilot group would vote against a strike authorization right now because they would think that it would mean SWAPA is imminently planning on going on strike. A strike authorization vote sans meaningful RLA education would only scare the crap out of this pilot group. They would overwhelmingly vote it down IMO. They don’t get that a strike authorization vote shortly after filing for mediation is all about sending a message to management rather than actually going on strike any time soon.

Most of this pilot group has trouble distinguishing between RLA mediation and arbitration. They think mediation needs to be avoided rather than a necessary evil in order to lay hold of labor’s strongest leverage: the credible threat of passengers en masse booking away from an airline in the face of a looming work shut down or interruption. They think the mediator can hold us in mediation forever. They think the president can permanently shut down a strike. And they think the possibility of congressional intervention after a PEB means it is pointless to even attempt to leverage the RLA.

This is an excellent summary of what our major hurdles are. So many pilots have their head firmly buried in the sand just waiting on the NC to hand them something to vote yes on. They have zero invested and zero expectation that they will have to do anything outside of paying their dues.
Get in an honest discussion with your flying partners on what is going on. You will be amazed at how many have zero clue.

I think some of the more senior folks underestimate the experience and resolve of the more recent hires from the regionals. We are part of the lost generation that were paid peanuts and abused for almost a decade. We have seen warn letters, furloughs, lousy integrations, bankruptcies, multiple job changes, strike authorization votes, and the scummiest airline executives in history. We are done being abused!

I am personally a member of the Republic $36.62 Club. Ask anyone who knows what this means. We are some of the most beat up, hard nosed pilots that have ever flown 121. Many of us are now at Southwest.

Most of us have experienced more of the pain, delays and plusses of the RLA than those of you who have had the luxury of being here for 15+ years. We have the knowledge and experience SWAPA will be looking for when the calls for action come.

Give the youngsters some credit. We have earned it.

That’s good to hear. Educate the other pilots you fly with.

We have a long way to go if we want to be able to actually get to a point where our pilot group is willing to take advantage of the strongest leverage available to labor.

Many of the pilots I’ve flown with have had similar backgrounds to you and it has produced in them a nearly opposite effect that your background has seemed to have had on you. It seems they’ve had so many bad experiences that they’re just happy to be anywhere that can be called a “major” airline. It’s like they suffer from airline PTSD. One theory I’ve heard is that SWA loves to hire guys like that because the company becomes their savior and rescuer. They don’t want to challenge an entity that plays that role in their lives.