I think that's a valid point, considering the "old school" style unions and the way that they have behaved in the past.

Newer unions realize they have to work smarter and harder. The public doesn't support labor like it did 50 years ago and they are quick to blame the union for any problems (whether the blame is deserved or not). I feel that we are proud of the way that we serve our customers, and we're always holding ourselves to a higher standard.

Case in point:

I work LAX arrivals. There's an airport about 3 miles southeast of LAX that is used quite a bit by commercial and private operators. Up until about 6 months ago, we ran arrivals into that airport simultaneously with LAX. Then someone from headquarters came down and took that permission away. The reason? An interpretation of an obscure paragraph in an FAA order. The union wants the permission back, but apparently whoever writes the application for permission (another non-union employee) put a comma in the wrong spot or some such, so it's going to take longer.

In the meantime, we have to STOP arrivals into the 4th busiest airport in the country (LAX) to the let a guy into the little airport (Hawthorne) or deny him entry and let the LAX arrivals keep running. Neither option is fair to the customer.

The upshot of all this is: If someone would simply declare that Hawthorne is actually another runway at LAX, the operation would be perfectly legal. The union knows this is nonsense and is fighting hard. If it weren't for the union, Hawthorne would probably have to close or LAX would experience delays until the end of time.

Keep in mind, it would be far easier for us to keep it like it is now and just shoo the Hawthorne arrival away. Unions aren't always on the anti-customer side.

SR