Industrial action is never the preferred option, neither for a union nor for management. It hurts everyone involved, and can easily leave behind a long term fallout of distrust and animosity. Leave the parties alone to sort out their differences.
It is ill advised for any pilot who wants to earn the respect and friendship of his fellow colleagues to act in a way that might be considered to interfer with a lawful strike. This is basic social intelligence for any sensible person, in my opinion.
CHC Helikopter Service in Norway have been more than 90 % unionised for decades. The company for all practical purposes have made a profit every year for more than 40 years, despite facing stiff competition at times.
All 5 companies in CHC Europe are more than 90 % union. All companies are profitable and highly productive, based on sensible collective labor agreements.
The same could be the case in PHI, even after an agreement have been reached.
All over the world a shortage of qualified helicopter pilots have emerged.
It's hard to see how PHI can replace highly skilled pilots all of a sudden. From what I've seen the companies in the GOM even prior to the strike were having problems reqruiting pilots. Am I mistaken? Perhaps PHI would lower minimum requirements for new candidates?
The GOM have problems trying to find a cure for incident levels and accident levels which the customers find unacceptable. The fact is that the oil companies all around the world have set a goal: Accident rates for offshore operations should be reduced to the levels of airline travel by 2012. It's hard to see this goal being achievable if the parties in PHI can not see eye to eye.