It is very obvious that labor controlled UA in order to reward labor. They drove up costs so fast and the competitors had to match. The shareholders and passengers got shafted.

Labor has too much power in general in the transportation industry, because of 1) historical factors, 2) legislation, and 3) most of all, very high fixed costs that continue whether workers are working or not.

The United "employee ownership" program was a disaster for the entire USA airline industry. It has a good side of course, because it created a large price umbrella under which new low cost airlines are flying, and helped spawn such airlines in Europe.