So the Capt Sully incident is mentioned in this article, and the article implies that he landed in the Hudson because he had flown across the US the day prior.

So the Capt Sully incident is mentioned in this article, and the article implies that he landed in the Hudson because he had flown across the US the day prior. So he hit a flock of birds at take off- is that because he was tired or sleep deprived? I think its because a flock of birds where in a bad spot during take off. And by all accounts Capt Sully did a fantastic job of saving lives in this case. Then there is the footnote of Southwest Airlines. He mentions how the unions are happy to negotiate unfavorable terms for junior pilots/airlines, and then contradicts himself by saying, well maybe Southwest's pilot union isn't doing that. I fly southwest quite frequently(in the past 6 months I have been on at least one round trip per week 60% of the time) and I certainly notice that the culture of the airline is very different than say, United. Southwest, while not perfect, are pretty cheap to fly most US domestic locations I frequent. They don't nickel and dime you with fees(checked bags, changes, etc). I flew united a couple of months ago and ended up having to change my ticket. I lost 200 dollars, had to pay 60 dollars to check a bag and generally had a poor experience at the "luxury" of getting to choose my seat ahead of time(which ended up being a "premium" seat for an extra charge.) My point is this, most carriers have a management style that pits pilots against both themselves(junior vs senior) and the airline. As long as this continues, the cycle of boom/bust for most airlines will continue. I believe southwest is different in several ways: - only fly one plane type(737) simplifying maintenance, making pilots more interchangeable on routes and probably improving safety in general. - customer focused service, and from what I have read about the airline, a culture of taking care of employees.(a good example being when Southwest sold a plane instead of laying off workers in their early days) - not following the "regional" model of air travel yet still serving many of those "regional" destinations. From what I have seen its mostly these regional airlines that have deplorable pay and flight schedules. I personally am pretty anti union, but I cant point the finger at them in this case as being at fault. I think that unions may have some effect on how pilots are paid and treated, but they are by no means the only reason.