Tens of thousands of airline workers are working under open contracts, most of them at the four largest carriers. Airline workers are angry and frustrated because all the major airlines made record profits over the last seven years, after big worker concessions in the 1980s and early 90s.

The “new economy” is another name for an old bag of tricks where promise and reality don’t match up. E-workers counting on valuable stock options, a revolutionized workplace, and premier wages and benefits have instead gotten mediocre wages, useless stock options, relentless production pressure, and maximum job insecurity.