[ahi]

"Union agreements and seniority-based schedule assignments lead to reduced safety for passengers, as the least experienced workers are pushed the hardest and get the least amount of rest. "

The reason junior officers get paid 16k a year is because there are people willing to do the job for 16k a year. Without the unions airlines could probably get volunteers (much like Greenspun who is certainly not doing it for the money) to fly their planes. But then we would have every pilot inexperienced, overworked, and underpaid.

Yes, the airlines are a mess, but he provided no evidence for his arguments. Southwest has been consistently profitable. Why haven't the pilots eaten up all their profits?

[stcredzero]

In the case of Southwest, one would think corporate culture had something to do with it.

[borism]

What corporate culture? All I know is that Southwest has pilot union, they get competitive salary and they love their airline. How come SW (or JBLU) don't have same issues as legacy carriers?

[stcredzero]

Yes, Southwest pilots love their airline. Southwest convinced its pilots to help pick up trash between flights. Also, all Southwest employees I've ever spoken to absolutely love their company. They practically gush! There's something up with SWA's corporate culture. So much so, Herb Kelleher cited it as a competitive advantage!

[borism]

Well, that still doesn't explain why pilot's union doesn't take 95% of their profit, does it?