wrx,
I think you're a little out-of-touch with your passengers and how they think.
Quite frankly, if I pay to fly on your airline during the holidays, and a flight attendant sickout causes a cancellation to my flight or causes me to be late to my destination, WHY would I have ANY reason to support the AA flight attendants? Sure, your customers are supportive and understanding UNTIL your job actions cause problems on their flight. Watch and see how long your customers will be supportive then.
From a common passenger's perspective, YES, Carty was a shmuck for trying to coax concessions out of the flight attendants while still giving retention bonuses to the executives. And most of all, he was a shmuck for trying to hide it. But any of your passengers who know anything about the struggles at AA right now are ALSO aware that Carty is gone. And that's really about all the common AA flyer knows or cares about.
Your airline is in trouble. Last time I checked, AA is still losing money. The only way your airline will get healthy and start recalling employees is if they start making money. Remember, it was financial losses that led to all this downsizing in the first place. A sickout by the flight attendants may sound like a great way to exact your revenge on AA, but in the larger picture, it only does more damage to you in that it causes your airline to lose MORE money. They won't recall flight attendants just to cover a sickout. Or if they do, they'll soon lay them off again, because once the holiday sickout is over, they're again left with too many flight attendants. Not to mention all the more money that AA just lost during the sickout. So help me understand how a sickout is beneficial to the flight attendants or AA? If it's a statement you're trying to make, then I think there are a lot more constructive ways to make it.
And don't delude yourself in to thinking you have your customers' support if you want to do a sickout. You don't. Quite frankly, if you are responsible for screwing up a customer's holiday plans because you and your co-workers decide to play sick, the customer could CARE LESS about your cause. If anything, they'll turn against you. Don't make the innocent customer, who's paying your bills by flying AA, the pawn in your game against management. Find some other way, but don't make the customer the victim here. Trust me on this one.
Fly safe, bro.