I wouldn't think a complete American pilot's strike would be possible, either... I base this on the fact that when the American pilots tried this in the past the U.S. President issued some type of "national security directive" ordering these folks back to work. Something about the number of passengers American flies daily and the amount of U.S. mail that American carries.

Apparently the President did not consider the NW pilot strike enough of a national security issue to do anything.

The "no overtime" job action could do enough damage, though. When U.S. Air pilots did this last fall by refusing to work overtime, over 300 flights were cancelled one weekend (the last days in the month). Fortunately I was on another airline.

NJDavid: You'll be interested to note that USAir blamed these cancellations on the weather in the NE... I was in Charlotte during those days and it was the local newspaper / TV that broke the story that the pilots said they refused to work overtime (and basically contradicted USAir's public explanation). The TV station did a report showing USAir monitors and their cancelled flights "due to weather" while other airlines were flying into that same location. The report even went so far as to show why the weather in those markets was clear and "flyable".

I certainly agree with your other post that there needs to be some accuracy (truthfulness) with airlines telling why flights were cancelled / delayed.