Maven, I watched Eastern Airlines go through this type mess many years ago. If memory serves, Frank Borman (then CEO of Eastern) warned several of Eastern's unions that concessions were necessary. The unions failed to heed his warnings and the airline disappeared in short order.
This is a nasty situation for all concerned.
Unless and until we re-engineer critical sectors of U.S. society, many millions of children will suffer needlessly--from my general and political commentary blog: www.thinkwecan.com