Jaunted

The position of the Unite union, which represents the bulk of British Airways employees, has long been that they'll go on strike unless they secure more money and compensation. British Airways managers, for its part, have long insisted that the union would under no circumstances be getting any more money and compensation, and that if they try to walk out, then BA executives would demolish the union in the press and get judges to quash their strikes. Which is exactly what just happened, with yet another judge blocking yet another BA strike this week. We kind of think that the BA union should be thanking the judge for saving them from themselves, given that the last strike was an unmitigated disaster for them. But they don't see it that way.

US airlines like Spirit and Airtran wish they had those kinds of legal options. AirTran's pilots are fed up with their ongoing five year contract negotiations, and have just voted to walk out on their jobs. The Spirit Airlines strike is even further along, with a firm date of June 12 on the calendar. At this point, given how long this story has been dragging on, we'll frankly believe it when we see it.

We understand that labor disagreements are inevitable, but this is week-in, week-out, will-they or won't-they is getting silly. If they want to keep haranguing each other over pay, they should do what hot Air Comet flight attendants did when they were owed wages. Have a naked photo shoot. It probably wouldn't resolve any of these labor issues, but at least it would be a naked photo shoot. And honestly, it's not like the current negotiations are proceeding at a lightening pace either.

[Photo: Library Of Congress / Wiki Commons]

Related Stories:
· AirTran Pilots Take Step Toward Strike on Union Vote (Update2) [Business Week]
· Airline Strikes [Jaunted]
· Airline Industry [Jaunted]