Aside from their obvious tactic of delay for those few upgrades here and there, and getting their furloughs back ahead of active west pilots, there are two things many of them are banking on, that they rarely dare speak of.
One is that they seem to believe that if this dispute is resolved by the courts one day, it will be too late to un-do what they've already claimed by force. In other words, they think "no bump - no flush" will keep them in their stolen positions. They don't understand that if they are guilty of DFR, then a court can very easily put them back where they belong as part of the remedy for damages.
Second is that they always thought another merger was around the corner, and a new snap shot would protect them in their current position outside of the Nicolau Award. They don't understand that a potential suitor will require a pre-merger resolution of the seniority dispute, and that resolution will be in the form of the Nic. I don't know about APA, but does anyone think for a NY minute that ALPA would not insist that the certified lists of each airline be based on any previous binding arbitration?
They have maneuvered themselves into a corner, and every door they hoped would lead them to the promised land has been closed in their face. Time will tell, and unfortunately for those stuck with them like a ball and chain, that time will drag on for quite some time. But they will eventually be forced one way or another to sleep in the bed they have made. There will never be a DOH list in a combined US Airways. It will be separate ops and LOA 93 for the east, or Nic with a better contract for all, or possibly even liquidation. But not DOH or LOS for that matter.
