It's important to understand that keeping us badly paid partially triggers their bonuses.
That's considered a positive in management world.
That they got it by using the bankruptcy system was dirty, but again, that's a positive in their world, because no one else had pulled that off, and that falls under "creativity".
Face it, the unions, all of us were caught sleeping and didn't see the pension dump, the manipulation of the bankruptcy code and the ensuing pain until it was too late. When MBA students look at this in their textbooks it will read something like "the airline industry was allowed to set back compensation to levels unseen for thirty years. Employees never were able to regain the lost value. . ."
The one that really burns me is that governments knew thirty years ago to move their employees to a 401K system rather than a pension system, understanding that they were unsustainable. Unions resisted any enroachments on pension systems and thus ensured their dump. It would have been far better to grandfather the pensions and transition something else for new employees-who would effectively consent to it, and it would probably have prevented the dump.
The airline industry as we knew it is effectively over. Ryan Air has won. His $25 tickets and kill them with an oxygen usage charge has tenaciously taken hold. Consumers want a $200 ticket. When they get socked with the ancillary revenues their psyche recognizes "choice" somewhere in the process. That it is too late to do anything about the "choices" doesn't seem to bother them as much as when they troll the internet for fares. Like business travelers, the consumers that plan ahead and manage those ancillary fees are not as many as those who do not. Eventually they will, but for now they're an effective revenue gainer. As Kirby said, yes, we have lost customers to SWA due to luggage charges, but not enough of them to change the policy and lose the revenue.
The good news is, Tempe gets this, and it is keeping US in business. The bad news is that they still don't recognize soft items, such as labor peace as revenue gainers as well.
Until they realize that US' reputation as inferior and the spotty customer service that originates with labor discontent are directly linked to profitability, misery are US prevails.
two thumbs up !
