No empathy needed. The Summer from Hell was a no-brainer. All any pilot did was fly the contract. Just didn't feel the love enough to go in on my days off, or waive duty time, or waive anything, for that matter. I'm way past peoples' lack of knowledge, and the guessing and posturing that goes with it. I used to take it personally, but those that subscribe to the "don't confuse me with the facts" mantra will probably never want to know, anyway.

By the way, ALPA for the most part, does not respond publicly to the drivel that upper management spins, and people tend to take a dim view of unions anyway. That is unfortunate because the pilots' unions, not just ALPA, but also those like American pilots' APA, SWA's SWAPA, IPA, etc are the ones whom ensure that some Federal Regulation that represents the very minimum acceptable safety standards is addressed and if needed, revised to provide a higher level of safety than the bare minimum. So, in a way, you bash those who have your safety at their forefront. Management has their bottom line, though, so rest assured that they, got your back on that!

Cheers

Fresh