Not to get into OMNI territory here, but I'm anything but pro-union, particularly in these cases. I think at a certain point in our nation's history labor unions were among the most important institutions in our industries because they ensured fundamental safety, humane treatment of workers and something above abhorrent working conditions. However, those roles have, over time, been adopted instead by regulatory bodies and the media.

Therefore, the goals of unions seem to have changed, and while it was once an issue of greedy management taking advantage of powerless workers it's now increasingly an issue of greedy unions holding customers (who have few other options) hostage.

Not everyone at DFW can get onto one of the eight non-AA flights operated from the airport, and not every Chicago parent could simply go enroll their child in private school. Meanwhile, these unions were not fighting for a living wage or a workplace free of toxic gas and severed appendages.