I will attempt to explain how this deal plays out for the Airtran pilots, at least the deal that was eventually turned down by the Airtran MEC. Many Southwest pilots and a surprising number of Airtran pilots were/are clueless. Of course, there will always be the contingent who can't get their minds off the short-term motivator (money.)
Pros:
- A pay raise. (No JCBA, no SW CBA, no SW work rules, no TFP, just pay.)
- Much improved management and, hopefully, the remaining dingbats fired.
Cons:
- Reduced flying. Already started. Income opportunities shrinking each month.
- Agreement to base all pilots in ATL. Uh, oh. There will only be slots for about ½.
- Therefore (see #2) the remaining ½ become nomads chasing their seats from coast to coast.
- Extension of integration from 18 months to approximately 36 months.
- No transfer to Sw CBA until integrated (a few crews at a time.)
- Oh yeah, bye-bye seniority. “No Sw pilot will be harmed.” How true.
- Senior FO's have no hope of upgrade for a decade, and that's with growth.
Now, think what you will about the Airtran group but I am grateful to the MEC for ****-canning this turd. (And these were the items I pulled from the memory bank. There is more.)
If this had gone to the pilot group for a vote the lengthy SW mandated voting period would have pushed future negotiations well into 2012. I'm sure the lawyer/pilot on the SW side had a hand in producing this potential outcome.
Oh, and by the way, both sides had agreed to “no lawyers” for the merger committee talks. Oops.
Based on twitter feeds, SWAPA and SW management were actively working on the language for the agreement long before the Airtran folks could get back to the table.
I could explain a bit about how this agreement got approved in the first place but most of you don't want to hear my anecdotes and 2nd hand accounts. Let's just say the SWAPA merger committee were less than forthright in their approach.
So, here we are. Hopefully some positive movement will occur this week prior to Eischen entering the fray.
Airtran has succeeded on the backs of its front line employees. I assure you that management took years to catch up to the abilities of the folks who kept the airline running day-to-day. We now proudly operate an award winning, on-time machine that does more with less.
That said, virtually everyone here is super-excited about the synergies that will flow from the combination of two great airlines. It's just a fact that the future is unlimited. Each side has unique abilities. 1 plus 1 equals more than 2 in this case. The pilots just want to be treated like equals—because we are your equals. The other employee groups will have to decide their own worth. Just don't ask me to surrender my seniority for a pay raise (which could disappear with the next CBA.)
I've finished trying to explain to the SW pilots “whats in it for you”. You don't want to see anything except the threat to your culture. Maybe your cult could use some new members. My hunch is that "culture" is code for "seniority."