Those bashing the pilot unions clearly don't have an understanding of the genesis of the union movement in aviation.
Just as many operating proceedures are "written in blood", so are the sections of airline pilot labor contracts. If you are delivering Pepsi, you can operate on 6 hours sleep. Even those who load the bags on the airplane can do double shifts frequently and not lose their effeciency.
The FAA requirements for flight and duty time are a bare MINIMUM. The airline unions have recognized that fact and included more realistic rest requirements in their contracts. The very same people who bash pilot unions would be very nervous knowing that the cockpit crew is on the fourth day of a trip with only 10 hour layovers.
Example after bloody(I'm not from the UK
) example of exhausted pilots flying when they shouldn't have are out there for all to see. Yet the union bashers brand us whiners. Yes, we whine--calm discourse with the management does no good!
The art of "pilot pushing" was highly refined in the '20's and '30's in the fledgling airmail/airline industry. The new-breed, money-grubbing CEO's are resurrecting their old friend to squeeze the last penny out of labor costs.
As for seriph's concern with our egos, yes, we are the best at what we do--because we have to be. We aren't driving a Cessna around the patch with only ourselves at risk. We are landing on semi-improved runways in Africa, working our way through lines of level 5 thunderstorms over Tulsa and alone in the middle of the night over the North Atlantic.
Maybe some have been in this business so long that they have forgotten the feeling you get on your first trip as Captain. You know, when things turn to s**t and EVERYONE turns and looks at you to see what YOU are going to do to fix the situation. The buck really does stop here.
We think highly of ourselves and our profession because we are expected to perform at our peak--AT ALL TIMES. We are no different than the top surgeons, Special Forces types or anyone else who holds the lives of others in their hands.
That's why we make the big bucks and that's why the travelling public cannot afford less.TC