I just love the Skybus bashers and how they come from such a high perch.. I'd be curious how many of them are "regionals" guys that accepted $13K/yr jobs all in the name of "building time for the majors" or how many of them vote for politicians that have empowered management over labor...
SX was a symptom of the reality of the industry in 2007.... it was a job for many.. a place to work, tread water, what ever.. For some, it was a place to fight the good fight.. just research the speed at which the IBT vote passed and what margin it passed by... and read about the 4 that were fired for standing up to management (the new managers, not the ones that were fired by the greedy investors)..
It was a symptom .. not the cause of the failure of our profession. The cause is the various ALPA (not so much APA) MEC's that gutted their working agreements in a panic to hold on to their all important seniority!
I spent a few weeks with American, but consider that pilot group the only body in modern times, at least since those guys at EAL shut it down, to be worth their weight as union men.. they held their ground, and that's why today they at least still have their pensions and a decent paycheck compared to the bottom feeders at UAL, US Air and other ALPA carriers that are just now getting to where APA was sitting at all the time (Waiting for that bar to get raised)..