[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The sad part, of course, is the stupidity of the flight attendants. They will collectively stomp their little foot, rescind their give-backs, and whine and bitch as bankruptcy takes more from them and puts a lot more of them on the ground.

Ain't it the truth. Shooting at the helmsman just puts more holes in the boat and then everyone drowns. Does anyone really believe the top people won't ALWAYS have it better than the workers?

The flight attendants and other employees should recognize the flying public has drastically reduced flying. That's the real problem. American airlines employees must think people MUST fly. Not true.

It's not too surprising how turning airports into Gestapo checkpoints discourages a pleasant flying experience. Many people have simply thrown in the towel on flying. They don't have confidence flying is any safer and it's a lot more hassle. You commit a federal crime by forgetting a pocket knife you've always carried is in your pocket. Who needs it?

[Archangelsk]

The flight attendants and other employees should recognize the flying public has drastically reduced flying.

Probably because the American public needs a quarter to buy a clue. Last time I looked, the number one fear of the flying public is - no big revelation here - terrorism. However, the numbers, in terms of fatalities, show CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) and loss of control as the two largest causes of death during accidents (terrorism, even with 911 accounted for, still ranks near the bottom).

Many people have simply thrown in the towel on flying.

Our economy depends on a large part to keeping our fleet flying, if we don't the terrorists have won.

[jammer]

Thanks for nailing the big problem. I'm surprised that it took 28 previous posts for someone to get to that.

[El Gato]

Does anyone really believe the top people won't ALWAYS have it better than the workers?

Of course not, but HOW MUCH better is what seems to be at issue. If they weren't pretty much setting their own salaries and benefits, does anybody really believe that executives are worth 10 and 20 times what the average worker gets? They seem also to be the last ones let go when times are bad, so you can't say they are taking more risk either? Just for illustrative purposes compare the compensation of a 4 star general over 26 years experience to a that of a 2nd Lt. with 2 years. The base pay of the General is 12,829.20 while that of the 2LT is 2,272.50, a factor of about 5.6. Or compare the General's salary to that of an E-7, comparable to a "line" supervisory type with long experience, but not "management" per se. An E-7 with over 20 years (and less than 22) makes 3,182.70 base pay.