Without this getting back into an East/West ****ing contest let me just put it in this perspective. UCAL has around 21 percent market share. Delta has around 20 percent. AA has 13 percent, LCC has 7. LCC merges with AA and the new AAways has 20 percent. That is why this looks good on the surface. You all can debate the realitive strengths of the different hubs and the route systems but those are the basic numbers.

Parker told us at AWA in 2004 after we got our contract that he knew management could not expect to subsidize operations through low wages forever. But, locked into a CASM fight with SWA at the time the low wage option was, and still is, the asiest method out there. It is hard to renegotiate leases. It is easy to play off workgroups and contract flying by regionals against each other. Parker looked to the opportunities in 2006 to diversify AWA away from a West centric route system and build more mass to compete. Where he dropped the ball was in allowing the high cost structure of the East to continue and hurt the entire package by weakening the West's ability to compete against SWA. Parker would have been better off to let AAA go away and look to merge with someone else but that is a moot point now. What he has done is make lemonade out of lemons. He has been able to offset the high East costs by building up ancillary revenue. He has cut 50 seat RJs and replaced them with 70 and 90 seaters. He has continued the profitability that AWA had and brought that to the East. That is why the American pilots need to look at this potential deal.

Parker may be a sonofa***** but he makes money for the company. He does business and he is not emotional about it. If it makes sense then he will do it. He turned a turd into a object d' art by putting a lot of polish on it. AA has a lot more going for it than US Airways did. AAA was a regional airline with a 20 widebodies. AA is a proven commodity that has a better route system and brand recognition than the old US Airways. This could be a lot better deal than in 2006 for everyone, especially when you factor in that one side won't be able to weasel out of binding arbitration again.