Perhaps well said, but not correct.
It was 100% correct. Heard it from DF himself, three times in personal conversations in the terminal and on the jumpseat, and saw it in writing in a handout given away to hundreds at a PID meeting in October 2000. Maybe BA didn't agree with that but they were pretty much joined at the hip WRT the issue at the time so I doubt they differed radically. DF realized a staple was absolutely possible, but in his jailhouse lawyer opinion (and he's quite the little studybug in that regard and highly rhetorical to say the least) significantly more was significantly likely.
He may have been on to something too with his little "gotcha" technicality seniority grab attempt because ALPA was scrambling avoid the possibility. We all know that once it gets into the hands of an arbitrator, they can go buck wild and anything is possible. Why would they be so worried about something with zero risk? They even made an asinine change of definitions of "operational integration" to something so absurd that no one on either side could believe it, but they did it to avoid the chance, whatever the odds were, that it would ever be in a position of even theoretically granting more than a staple. As absurd as the maneuver was, it had to be done to prevent the risk of something the other side refused to agree to up front.
The ASA and Comair guys were following a process like a sequential checklist. ALPA policy is that a PID for a merger must happen before each side takes positions on SLI. Therefore there was no position on SLI. They had not gotten to step 1, so why jump to step 4 or 5?
Then they could have come up with a public statement along the lines of "while we fully respect the process, we are perfectly fine with a staple and would have no problem agreeing to that up front if necessary". But instead they "went for it" by trying to take the runway, reach V1 and
then talk about how, after it was too late to back out.
As for the "status quo" likely leading to a staple that was used as an innocent excuse, how many mergers at that time went by pay scale? And by W-2 or pay tables, there were junior DL pilots that would have lost seniority. Not most, but some.
Especially knowing that failure to adhere to policy would have both given ALPA National the excuse they needed to deny the PID, as well as incite a riot on the Delta property.
I really doubt the PID guys were too concerned with jeopardizing their chances at the PID because they were willing to give up too much at the front end. Also, from the Q&A "what if ALPA says no" answer: "ALPA can't say no". They really thought this was a slam dunk and were absolutely giddy about the potential seniority grab. The ones at the top were smart enough to speak like a well oiled politician trying to avoid taking a position but they could easily be coaxed into revealing their true intentions both verbally and in writing.
I promoted the idea of publishing "we'd be grateful for a staple." The reason my request was shunted was that we had no PID yet and (to reiterate the above) we were following a process. To start the SLI talk was inappropriate before the PID was granted.
Only if you're trying to preserve your leverage is that a tactically sound methodology. Do you think the USAir pilots would have scuttled the merger with America West if the AmWest pilots said up front, before the "process" unfolded, that they would agree to a staple? It would have been inked the same day outside of arbitration.
The Q&A you reference does not exist. Like the stories about MEC positions on SLI. They never got that far.
Saw a PID handout memo from their official powerpoint with my own eyes, in writing, and heard the same from DF personally. Didn't think to ask if I could keep it and then save it for 12 years to prove it, but it 100% existed and was given to hundreds of pilots as well as being verbally conveyed at meetings, put on screens via power points and privately one on one with basically anyone who was willing to listen: a staple is the floor, DOH the ceiling, and the PID will likely result in something in the middle. If you have a class date at Delta, you would likely gain more seniority by staying at ASA/Comair right now. The PID must be approved, we will be merged with Delta.
Once I asked him, "so if an ASA/Comair pilot has a class date at DL he should stay because if he goes he will "start over" and lose all his seniority because they are different companies?" He said yes. So I then asked "but if he stays at ASA/Comair, he may have a claim to at least some DL seniority, arbitration depending of course, because DL/EV/OH are all the same company?" Again, another yes.
I let it go after that gem.