And that's a BIG part of the problem today -- check, check -- make that 'a big part of the problem' that started ramping up with a vengeance after the Deregulation Act of 1978.
Today the airline management suites are amply stocked with carpetbaggers, assholes, pantywaists, momma's boys, cheapskates, and those who've never experienced a callous on their lily white hands -- ever. They mostly went to the school of economics that sports the motto: ''if you've got a buddy, tried & true ... fuck that bastard before he fucks you ... ''
And they all graduated summa cum laude ... believe it.
Where are the guys named Juan Trippe ... C.E. Woolman ... Robert F. Six ... Bob Prescott ... Lucky Lindy ... Howard Hughes ... Herb Kelleher ... C. Eddie Acker ... Al Casey ... Donald Nyrop ... the Braniff brothers (yes, and even Harding Lawrence) ... Walter Varney ... Col Lew Britten ... ??
There's more ... and they're basically all gone.
While some of the guys I named could be hard-nosed when it came to labor negotiations and the corporate bottom line, I can stipulate that almost all did not 'hate' pilots in the sense we see today, and many or most had a LOT of their own heart & soul in their OWN airlines AND in the business at large.
There WERE exceptions, to be sure (E.L. Cord immediately comes to mind -- yes, THAT Cord) ... but I believe most fell into the picture I've tried to paint = tough guys who loved the airline industry.
For your information: Airline strikes post WW2
