Troubled Skies

The recent labor troubles at American Airlines give a picture of what is wrong, not only with the Airline business, but with much of american business in general. Recently NPR aired a story titled American Airlines Fliers Fed Up As Labor Clash Rages
by Wade Goodwyn that explains the the roots of the labor dispute:

In 2003, with American on the verge of collapse, the pilots, mechanics, ground crew and flight attendants gave back nearly $2 billion in concessions. Later, it emerged that the airline's top managers quietly awarded themselves millions in bonuses, and tens of millions more when they retired. The workers have never really gotten over that betrayal.

Now you'd think that the hot shots who run American would realize that maybe you shouldn't treat pilots like janitors or some other unskilled sector. But the CEO caste doesn't care whether they run the companies into the ground. As long as they get their big salaries and bonuses. So now American is being hit with widespread flight cancellations and many are wondering whether the airline is doomed.