I took a stiff drink and turned the 411-filter off...
and believe it or not, a great deal of what he says is absolutely correct. And I work for AA....
However: what he (and our 'management') have totally failed to take into account this time is that the outrage is not primarily caused by wage rates, but more by the totally unacceptable unethical behaviour of certain individuals high-up in HQ who were warned and should have known better.
As Von Klauswitz preached: the generals [I]never, ever[I]eat before the troops.
Believe me 411, this time at least 50% of the guys I'm flying with intend to burn the place down (and have other careers) if there are not serious changes. It's no idle talk...they are saying that they are going to make a statement for all American workers, if need be, and force Congress to accept some of the 3 recent Democratic bills to control executive compensation in the US. Even if ordered back by Dubya, a lot of the guys are saying 'no way...not this time....this is it, we're at the defining moment'. The economic damage in n. Texas would be unbelievable, I know first hand from an exec. that a VP has said 'if they want to Eastern Airlines it, so be it'.
Then there's the FA's and the ground workers, shortly after...
So be it....