767jetz
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 3,286
- 2,779
I disagree. On the surface it might appear so. But scratch the surface and it's a different comparison. When a merger happens, one of the synergies is that flying can be moved around where it makes the most sense due to the new economics of scale and combined infrastructure. Especially when it comes to hub and spoke airlines. Most people don't care where they connect through, only that they get from point A to point B. And the increased feed changes the dynamics of how the entire airline operates. New markets can now be entered that would not have been possible before. Etc. etc. So DOH while fencing the west into PHX takes none of this into consideration and shifts all the benefits of the merger to the east.
Same goes for growth. For example if an airline had 100 international flights but downsized to 50. Then they merged. Anything beyond 50 flights would now be growth for the new airline. But some argue that until it reaches 100 again there is no growth. That is simply wrong. That's where the waters are mudied when you start talking about "keep what you had and we'll keep what we had." How do you define what anyone had? Where do you draw the line? One side had 17 year pilots furloughed. Should they also keep what they "had" in that respect? You can't claim that you want to keep what you "had" only when it comes to the good stuff, and leave the crap for someone else to absorb. That's what DOH with C&R does.
What about the next economic downturn? Backward movement would put most of the west below the east as furlough fodder in DOH with C&R. Are you telling me that USAPA would put a C&R that states that east pilots who were furloughed at the time of the merger would be furloughed first (out of seniority order) in a DOH situation? I don't think so.
You have to remember the context that Nicolau ruled based on the circumstances and reality at the time. A slotting arrangement where everyone has the seniority to bid exactly what they had they day before (or very close to it) is the most fair starting point. From there you can move forward. Someone with 20 years of active service could easily be given a higher pay, vacation, even traveling benefit over a 5 or 10 year person with a more senior position. Widebody seats can fenced for east only upgrades up to a point where it's considered growth. Same for retirements from the left seat. You could even take into consideration the age disparity and give pilots who are within 3 or 5 years of retiring a pass on seniority to move up first. There are many possibilities. Heck you could say anyone furloughed in the last 5 years or in a J4J position gets a pay override for the next 5 years to make up some of what they lost.
I did say a slight adjustment. Maybe a ratio of some kind, but not a straight LOS number. It's simply not reasonable to put a furloughed pilot ahead of an employed pilot regardless of LOS. Especially considering bankruptcy and the situation at the time of the merger. Note I said reasonable, not fair since fair is just too hard to define.
This is where IMO many of the east pilots go off the deep end. They don't "have to" do any of that. You can't repair everything you see as an injustice at the cost of creating an injustice for someone else. Especially when the other side did not create the injustice. When you start talking about all the "have to's" you start putting yourself right back into the corner you are trying to get out of. You can CHOOSE to do all of those things. Just like you were able to choose not to move away from DOH during the arbitration. But then you also CHOOSE the consequences that go along with those choices. There is still the legal landscape to maneuver. Every step away from the Nic at this point is a risk. Every one of those "have to's" is like putting another bullet in the chamber. All of you have to decide how many bullets you want in the gun before you pull the trigger.
All the West pilots need to do now is wait. Either the company's suit gets resolved with Nic being the only option, or if not then USAPA eventually puts out a contract that the west pilots decide is not worth fighting over, or the west moves forward with DFR#2. In the interim, LOA93 continues to drag on.
