Originally Posted by pmanchuk

I have to say, while I'm slightly "biased" in terms of the outcome I want (being one of the many booked on multiple AA flights through this period), I'm actually surprised by the way the union is supposedly (based on what's been said in the news) trying to stop pilots from picking up the empty slots. To me, there's two parts that bother me - first being that they're using passengers as a pawn during one of the busiest times of the year... how in good conscience can they willingly recommend pilots potentially leave huge numbers of people stranded during the holidays? If a pilot wants to accept the offer of 1.5x pay (or whatever else it may grow into) and fly, then let them. The other issue I have with it, which is sort of tied to the first, is for the union to be using a mistake (as opposed to intentional actions) by AA to really take advantage and stick it to the airline - this whole "us vs. them" mentality where employees (particularly lead by union desires) get such a joy out of royally sticking it to the boss and causing the business harm utterly confuses me. I'm all for fair treatment, pay, negotiating things, etc., but if people resent their employer THAT much where they want to directly do damage to it, it's time to quit ASAP if you ask me.

With all of that said, I've had my fair share of critical moments regarding AA's operations, some of the staff, etc., but I'm sorry - this is one of those moments when a genuine mistake (that could seriously impact such huge numbers of people in a very negative way) could easily be fixed or at least minimized by people (employees/employer) working together. Instead here we are with cheers and calls for the pilots to stick it to AA or at least take advantage of the mistake and bleed them in some attempt to make them pay. So much for the good will and giving nature of the holiday season. Truthfully if the numbers are correct (15,000 flights), I'm guessing the chances of every last one of them being covered is going to be next to impossible and if I'm one of those "lucky" ones to have a flight cancelled, I can say without hesitation that it WON'T be AA management that I'll be pointing fingers at in this instance...