UA is on the chopping block. Tilton has one goal in mind...to increase shareholder value. The "For sale" sign is out front, and it is up to the employees at this time to start thinking about Plan A and Plan B. Do you remain on the Titanic (Plan A), or go with one of the pieces (Plan B ), as the Eastern employees who went with Trump Shuttle did?
A company doesn't just put it "out there" that they are interested in "burning the furniture" unless some serious decisions have already been made at the top.
UA is worth more in pieces, and a fragmented UA will make a merger more palatable to the government.
UA is one big garage sale.
I am sure we will be hiriing and UA employees can always interview with AA, but we will be checking for "UA attitude." No doubt, AA will try to put into place a new form of B-scale before they start hiring again, and this will fund the expansion. I may not agree with AA management, but they are not dumb.