News and notes from around the interweb:
- Aer Lingus suspended a pilot who refused to let non-union flight attendants sit in business class on an empty repositioning flight, defying orders from management. The pilot union blasts the company for intervening in a ‘safety/operational decision’. (HT: One Mile at a Time)
The captain who has been suspended flew an Aer Lingus aircraft from Barbados to Manchester early last week. The only passengers on board were members of a cabin crew who were not on flying duty, known as a “positioning crew”.
…The captain assigned them economy class seats. Their manager complained to Aer Lingus in Dublin as such crews normally sit in business class. Mr Dunne contacted the aircraft mid-flight to say that the positioning crew could sit in business class. The captain did not comply with this but made a safety report after landing. Management suspended him last week.
[Union] Ialpa maintains that Mr Dunne had no authority to instruct the captain on the crew’s seating as this had implications for the aircraft’s balance and safety. The union also says he should not have contacted the aircraft mid-flight.
- Air Canada sued Seats.aero two years ago for scraping their website for award results and for trademark infringement (use of their logo in results display). It looks like the case will settle although we don’t know the settlement terms under discussion.
- FAA To Encourage More Flight Schools To Conduct Testing Themselves Progress.
- JetBlue has started charging more for one-way travel in many markets
- Hawaiian Airlines now has inflight trading cards and wings for kids. United and Delta both have these cards available from pilots, too.
- The Housekeeping Olympics! And here all I wish for – and far fewer hotels deliver – is my trash collected, bed made, and towels refreshed each day.
Evil union members believing they can harm honest non-union folks. Typical.
Hilarious, Ben included in his article: “Aer Lingus Chief Operations Officer Adrian Dunne (no relation to… nevermind)” … @Tim Dunn, did you catch that one?
That incident with Aer Lingus seems far less about ‘unions’ than it does about a captain on a ‘power trip.’ And, as I reminded @George Romey over there, ‘poor man’s lie-flat’ is not the same as actual lie-flat, sir, even if they are ‘dead-heading.’
The word ‘union’ alone is triggering for some of you, it seems. I presume, @This comes to mind, will regurgitate his anti-union sentiments on here, shortly, as he did on Ben’s site. It’s a shame to witness such irrational hatred for such a good thing in our society. We need strong worker rights, consumer protections, and a robust social safety net, progressive taxes, especially during periods of economic strife, which we are clearly in, and only getting worse.
Make the captain produce the load sheet.
@This comes to mind — I wrote my comment above, before I saw yours post, but, clearly, I knew what to expect based on your drivel from the other site. I patiently await @Mike P to ‘pile on.’ Folks, you cannot lift yourselves up by your bootstraps, but it’s fun to watch you try. There’s a better way.
@ This comes to mind – Amen to that. Union proponents defend a system that protects mediocrity, punishes initiative, and drains everyone else to keep their own power intact. Evil is right.
@Mike Hunt — Unions are not ‘evil.’ Management is not ‘evil’ either. These are all people; imperfect, yes; they are human beings; they deserve dignity, fair contracts, and protections from mistreatment.
Companies with unions benefit from the lower turnover, higher morale, and predictable costs, among other benefits. Unions are are net positive in free market systems acting as a necessary counterbalance to employer power, and by contributing to economic efficiency and stability in ways that benefit the broader economy. C’mon, man, no need to vilify unions or their members.
A system built on coercion, monopoly control, and taking away individual choice is indeed evil. When a structure forces dues, threatens people’s jobs, protects incompetence, and lifts a small political class above the very workers they claim to represent, it is a cartel. It blocks mobility, shuts down merit, punishes anyone who pushes back, and uses the worker’s own paycheck as leverage.
Lower turnover is not a virtue when it happens because people feel trapped. Predictable costs are not a virtue when they come from mandatory fees. Stability is not a virtue when it depends on fear of retaliation for not falling in line. Coercion is not dignity, forced dues are not fairness, and one group claiming total control over representation is not freedom. It’s evil.
@1990 as I’ve stated before practically the only time you take a break from writing comments to amuse yourself (-and bore others) is when you predictably and relentlessly come to the defense of airline unions. Far be it from me to imitate Tim Dunn, but the best domestic service (Delta) and many, many of the high quality foreign carriers are non union.
Pilots are grossly overpaid relative to other occupations with similar training and responsibility. As Gary has pointed out pilots unions work relentlessly to limit new entrants to the profession and force retirement while still healthy.
U.S. Flight attendants unions are the reason that the oldest, most jaded ones work the most valuable routes/cabins and frequently delivery crappy service. In a meritocracy they would be gone. Beyond a couple of years, tenure adds zero to the value they deliver and yet their pay and work life improve. Sorry, but in non union shops it doesn’t work that way. If you want to get paid more, you need to add more value.
If you think it would be hard to find cheaper equally competent people to replace Union FA’s you’re deluding yourself
Are there incompetent, overpaid management teams? Absolutely, but that’s a totally separate issue.
Why don’t you have a seat right over there?
@Mike Hunt — Everyone who isn’t already well-established in the asset class is already struggling with affordability, job security, housing, healthcare, groceries, etc., and it’s only getting worse for most of them.
And, I understand that you’d rather they ‘go at it alone,’ lift themselves up by their ‘bootstraps,’ and try out that rugged individualism all the way home. Yeehaw, cowboy. But, I also know, based on your politics from other posts, you’re very much in-favor of the management-side of things, and the ‘free market,’ aka, conservatism.
But that doesn’t work out well for most people, especially within aviation. Generally, unionized workplaces receive better wages and benefits because the company cannot just come in and slash wages or cut benefits. Workers have more power, collectively.
@Johnny — Yeah, I remain an advocate for worker and consumer rights and protections; and, so far, I have not been convinced otherwise.
Delta’s pilots (since 1934)and dispatchers are union; and, there’s still hope the airlines’ flight attendants, mechanics, and baggage handlers will join in collectively bargaining, soon.
I’m not going to disparage crews, here, or abroad; lots of hardworking people, most of whom deserve to be paid more, regardless.
@1990 – You keep framing this as if the only choices are rugged individualism or forced collectivism, but that ignores how badly unions themselves can distort incentives and trap workers in systems that help the loudest leaders instead of the frontline employees. Higher wages and benefits can be negotiated directly, and Delta is the perfect real world example. Once again, its mostly non-union workforce earns market leading pay, receives enormous profit sharing checks, and consistently reports higher satisfaction than the heavily unionized legacies. That did not happen because the company slashed wages or gutted benefits, it happened because a competitive labor market with real mobility pushes employers to pay well to retain talent. Collective power sounds noble, but if it comes with mandatory fees, political leadership that workers cannot easily vote out, threats tied to dues, and rigid contracts that limit flexibility, the “protection” starts looking a lot like a cage. Workers deserve choice and leverage, not a system where their paycheck funds a gatekeeper that claims to speak for everyone whether they want it or not.
Anyone who misappropriates Air Canada’s logo hasn’t flown them. What an abomination. The only place they should print their logo should be on rolls of toilet paper.
@Mike Hunt — Leverage? You’re talking about an individual worker verse a major corporation? Oof. You say you ‘work for a living,’ but, perhaps you haven’t yet dealt with actual disparities in bargaining power. Especially lately, a worker wants to get paid more, citing inflation; the major company says, on the spot, you’re fired (at-will). Ah, ‘choice!’ Collective bargaining is the workers’ best chance at leverage. Unions enable better pay, benefits, and job security.
Outliers, like this pilot in the story, are not the norm. You frequent VFTW, so you know that half of Gary’s posts are about such bad actors, because those salacious stories get the clicks, sell the ads, etc. Yet, in reality, 99/100 flights, there are no ‘crazies,’ very few incidents, and when there are, it gets dealt with, ideally sooner than later, but almost always, eventually.
As to ‘framing,’ didn’t you and @This comes to mind literally call people ‘evil’ on here? Yikes.
I said: “Evil union members believing they can harm honest non-union folks.” I think it is more accurate to suggest it is union members acting evil. Union members can convince themselves/be convinced that their side is “right.” It becomes almost cult like. Thus, union members will, in the extreme, murder those they feel are scabs.
@This comes to mind — Unnecessary semantics, hyperbole, and outright lies. You’re vilifying unions and their members, regardless. Extending individual misbehavior to a group is prejudice; seeking to eliminate that group from existence, claiming they act evil, or are a cult, well, that’s another thing entirely. (They are not.)
what kind of BS is this? 5 or 6 FA’s, total weight 900lbs est, would affect the C of G on an aircraft at 150 tons? Lets see the calculation.
The pilot should have had them stayed buckled in their jump seats for the entire flight.