Originally Posted by cactusmike

No one disputes what SWA has. It is not SWA captains that are losing their seats to AT F/Os. Those 150 jets are not some insubstantial number, that is real growth for Southwest, growth that would not have come without the deal.

Certainly the top slots should go to Southwest. But the rest of the list should be ratioed in so that Air Tran captains stay captain. This was not some yard sale, where SWA was picking up the pieces, ala ATA. This was a viable airline with good routes and a valuable hub. The AT guys deserve their share of the pie. The last two "deals" only showed that SWAPA was getting all of the dessert.

The other side of the coin also is that growth had flattened out at SWA. F/Os were looking at a very long time to upgrade since the days of 10% growth had passed. If oil had gone back to 120 to 140 per barrel there would have been cutbacks, along with every other airline. This deal gives those SWA F/Os an accelerated chance to upgrade, which is fine, except that it is at the expense of AT pilots that are already captains.