200 + pilots coming back had a huge impact on 4a2b IMHO. Those guys who pushed the loudest for the change and retro never seemed to own up to the unintended consequences, and instead placed blame solely on management (no saints) or pilots working extra as the crux of the problem. Nobody ever said "dang....the 2007 law change just gooned up the hiring model..." They conveniently overlooked the guys like CB and others flying 130+ hours every month on their lines as having ANY impact. I never chastised anyone for doing ANYTHING during 4a2b, because I figured if those guys who were handed a gift by Prater and Congress could do it, so could anyone else.

To me, its just a lesson in unintended consequences, and was a reminder to be very careful when making changes in any one area due to ripples into other arenas. Everyone had a "solution" to 4a2b, but it usually involved someone else making the sacrifice. My hope is that we just use that as a cautionary tale before we start making wanton changes to our contract to fix short term irritants. The original poorly written paragraph, and the zeal at which retro was pursued combined to have an effect neither group foresaw, even though the intentions were good by all parties.