They probably have less power than you think. If they actually shut down all aviation and didn’t have a very convincing PR strategy, they’d find an infuriated public (you can’t go to your daughter’s wedding, your grandpa’s funeral, etc.), which the airlines (and the government, which has a serious interest in seeing air commerce working smoothly) would absolutely use to their advantage.
Don’t forget that when ATCs actually followed your logic, Reagan responded by firing them all, and even though in more recent years this has been cast as the horrible beginning-of-the-end for American unions, at the time he had broad public support, because people were incensed that one profession could shut down air travel.
All this is to say that I think pilots’ unions do have a good sense of how hard to push and not push. They don’t have infinite leverage.
Don’t forget that when ATCs actually followed your logic, Reagan responded by firing them all, and even though in more recent years this has been cast as the horrible beginning-of-the-end for American unions, at the time he had broad public support, because people were incensed that one profession could shut down air travel.
All this is to say that I think pilots’ unions do have a good sense of how hard to push and not push. They don’t have infinite leverage.