John McCain and the pilots

[CarlWoodward]

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Sen. John McCain may have the Republican party nomination wrapped up, but he still has some convincing to do with one group of traditionally Republican voters. No, I'm not talking about evangelical Christians - I'm talking about commercial airline pilots.

McCain co-sponsored legislation in 2003 that would have changed the Railway Labor Act to include mandatory "baseball-style" arbitration in airline contract negotiations. That's a method whereby a mediator makes the final decision on disputed issues, and there is no appeal. Unions have long opposed any attempts to force that type of arbitration, because it removes their greatest form of leverage - the ability to strike.

McCain's 2003 effort failed, but lots of pilots still remember it. One told me recently that he will never vote for the Arizona senator, and he believes many of his colleagues feel the same way.

"Look, most pilots are ex-military, they're professionals, most of them vote Republican and have all their lives," the pilot said. "But when it comes to McCain, most of us all remember how he backed airline management and tried to screw the pilots. That's going to cost him some votes."


Read more: http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk/2008/02/john-mccain-and.html

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I thought this was an interesting tidbit about how McCain's anti-union record is hurting him with this traditionally Republican group of voters.

[bbernardini]

1. Maybe the pilots will start to realize...

...that the GOP ALWAYS backs up the corporations and screws the worker.

[BOSSHOG]

2. It perturbs me to a serious degree

when I hear that most former military professional people vote republican. That's gop ca-ca talking point bullshit.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. thanks for the article

McCain has a lot of conservatives who won't vote for him. Glad we have another group added to the list. Maybe those pilots will wake up and realize that the GOP is not for them.

FWIW, my brother is an ex-Army officer and an ardent Democrat. Maybe its the difference in branches (and jobs?)

[southernleftylady]

4. I am a flight attendant so THANK YOU for posting this.. its alittle ammo when..

they start talking repuke crap!

[spartan61]

5. My daughter is a F/A for AA.

She just called me and asked if I had heard that McCain has a son from whom he is estranged. His son is supposedly a pilot for AA and that is one of the reasons that McCain treats pilots the way he does. My daughter said that she just heard this today as she was leaving the aircraft and talking with the First Officer who told her this. BTW, my daughter and this FO are both voting for Obama. In fact, they will both be early voting in Texas.

[CarlWoodward]

6. Yes

Pilots are an interesting group - I think it's probably true that many of them have backgrounds that might make them traditional Republicans, but they're also intensely disciplined union members. Pilot unions can take down a major airline if they wish, because literally none of them will cross the picket line. They've become a highly-paid profession because of the strengths of their unions over the years.

I remember news coverage of a pilot union protest at American Airlines last year and it was astonishing - more than a thousand showed up in their pilot uniforms and then they marched, military-style, to the corporate headquarters. I think they were protesting the big executive bonuses there.

So if the unions are telling their members to vote for the Democrat over McCain, you can bet that's one voting block that McCain won't get.

[dysfunctional press]

7. it would be virtually impossible to replace them with scabs...

so yes, they have a strong union.

[ooga booga]

8. MCCain and the pilots

I worked at American Airlines for 22 years, and, in that time, I learned a bit about the unions at American. They all have long memories especially when it comes to things they didn't like. If the Allied Piolots Association (AA pilots union) remembers John McCain that way, that's not good. It's more than a bit ironic that so many airline pilots are ex-military pilots who would normally close ranks around an old naval aviator with the Hanoi Hilton on his resume.

It's looking more and more like McCain's candidacy may be headed to an unhappy end.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. I agree.

I work for an airline and I know a whole lot of pilots. Many are ex-military and tend to be conservative, but I don't think I've heard a single positive word about the Bush administration from any of them in a very long time. I have heard them say some very negative things, and a surprising number are either specifically liberals or Democrats, or at least decline to identify themselves as Republicans. The fact that ALPA (the largest of the pilots' unions) has been thoroughly screwed in the last few years certainly has a lot to do with this. McCain's proposal to amend the RLA to require mandatory arbitration will NOT endear him to these guys.

I wonder whether ALPA will wait until a nominee is chosen to endorse? They endorsed Kerry last time; I sure don't see them saying a single kind word about McCain.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. McCain has a son, Doug, who is a pilot for AA.

I didn't know they were estranged. But in light of McCain's hostility toward the pilots' unions it's not surprising. I wonder which came first?

Added -- I just found this: http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/doug-mccain-senators-son-offers-his-own-straight-talk

This article says Doug McCain (who isn't McCain's biological son but was adopted by him when he married his first wife) is campaigning for John. Wonder what his pilot buddies think?