My guess is what the APA is willing to sign off on to avoid arbitration, usapa and the east pilots will not like. A few guys talking here and there is one thing, when it comes down to brass tacks, that's another. I think the APA has plenty of good arguments that hold alot of water, and they will do ok in an arbitration. And I think they know it.
Bottom line, usapa and the east won't like what the APA is willing to sign off on to avoid arbitration, and the APA is not overly afraid of arbitration, so off we go.
I won't even go into where the west legal efforts end up, I have no clue. Even if the west litigation efforts fall totally flat before the arbitrators get it all, what will they do? Will they honor their colleagues previous work? Will they use 3 lists? Will they use one usapa DOH list? I don't know. But I believe we will see arbitration.
At any rate, our last 7 years of fun will be water under the bridge if the merger goes through. We'll have the rest of our careers to stew over it, or not, as we see fit. Personally, I'm not afraid of however it ultimately works out. It will be what it will be.