I doubt any pilot "would have loved to strike".... That isn't anything someone should "love to do".....
That being said, at a certain point, ALPA has the choice to declare a national SOS.... It could have been done, but it wasn't.....
One pilot group cannot stand alone..... If everyone isn't willing to lay it on the line, then don't expect anyone else to lay it on the line....
Well said Joe- I don't think people realize how nasty a strike really is, or how long it may last. Ragarding laying it on the line- it's ALWAYS easier to put someone else's butt on the line than it is your own. Everybody wants the gain, but nobody wants the pain.
Personally, I can't blame ALPA for the post 911 concessions. It was ultimately the ELECTED representation that made the calls, and it was the PILOT GROUP that voted for them. I do feel that ALPA stopped the bleeding from being worse than management intended for it to be.
No union and the transfer of aircraft from the "east" to the "west".....Naaaa. They aren't voting for a union free east. They are voting for an IN HOUSE UNION. Personally, I think it is the way to go. Heck- ALPA's merger policy isn't worth the paper it's written on. It's a total JOKE!