NilFurther,
You’re right. As one of those who has been here since the 49er disgrace, the writing on the wall should have been clear. The mistake we made was assuming that the last attack on the pilots, in this case the 49ers, was the last attack. We were naive to make that assumption. Since the early 1990’s the company has viewed the pilots’ pay and conditions as a gift that keeps on giving. Every bit of negative economic news would be used by management to justify a fresh wave of reductions to pay, benefits, and working conditions. This happened time and time again.
So you’re right, we should have seen this coming...we were stupid to assume they would suddenly stop or change their behavior without a push back.
That said, a tipping point has been reached. The effect of the training ban, and extreme resignation rate among pilots, has reached critical mass. This turn of events must be a bitter pill for management to swallow. Imagine that....to finally understand that you cannot run an airline without pilots....