The two were directly tied to eachother...the SLI would not have happened without acceptance of the TA. As I understand it, and correct me if I am wrong...the Mesaba MEC scheduled the arbitration BEFORE the TA was agreed to, thereby assuring it would happen in a "timely" manner. It was clearly understood that accepting the TA would start the integration ball rolling. The only way to hold off on the integration would be to turn down the TA, no? To those who approved the TA and are now ****ing and moaning about the integration...you'll get ZERO sympathy from me. To the Colgan pilots getting awarded jet slots: Good for you guys.