I bet the Frontier pilots would love to get that deal.
The Better for who, You?
Gary Kelly has (according to someone I know who was in a negotiating session with him last week) stated that he wants the seniority lists merged NOW so that money can begin to be made, from the combined companies, very soon. Barring a quick deal, a not so veiled threat was made that pilot furloughs (from the AirTran side only) as well as getting rid of a certain AirTran not-so-common fleet type would/could begin. Kelly is obviously aware of the percent increase in pilot pay AirTran pilots would receive. And yet, according to him, there's lots of money to be made and he wants to make it immediately, through a quick merging of the lists. The proposed SLI wasn't even presented by SWAPA; it came from SW management, along with the threat from SW management. Doesn't sound like they want to drag anything out to me.
I agree that the plan is to keep the 717. But the plan is not to have SLI negotiations drag out while all the "synergies" (or whatever fancy term one might choose to mean "the ability to make more money with the merger complete") are not realized. I don't take what I heard was the "threat" as anything personal. My take is that what GK was saying is "If its going to take a long time to get this done, we've got to start cutting costs, and here's how we"re going to do it". He has a responsibility to SW employees before AirTran employees, and he has a responsibility to the company's financial well-being overall. While the original plan was to keep all AirTran employees and the 717, when things change like sustained high fuel prices or a longer than planned SLI negotiation, then the plan could change. If I were GK, it would be my job to do/say the same thing.
I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question (and therefore answering it), but a combined SLI proposal was, according to my source, presented by SW management to SWAPA and AirTran ALPA. The threat of furloughing AirTran pilots and getting rid of some/all of the 717s was made to the AirTran pilots, as I don't think the SW pilots would have seen this as a threat to them. And to reiterate, I don't think bad of GK nor can I claim that he meant what was allegedly said as a threat. If he chooses to do/say things that are in the interest of the company he runs, then that's his job. If those same things could cost me a lot of money or my job, then I'm going to see them as a threat to the well-being of me and my family, even though that may not have been his intent. I can't blame someone for doing or saying something that I would/might do if I were him.
