Eaglefly,

If life to come at AA is as bad as you're proclaiming it will be, the best thing is for all the junior guys to leave!

Clearly, the senior guys are in a comfortable place and won't be going anywhere. A combined operation with US will have an even more senior pilot group. What's a junior pilot to do; decide that the pilot career isn't worth it and move to another part of corporate America or elsewhere.

When you cut past all the emotion and rhetoric, mine included, you gotta admit this is a great career field.

For those of you who haven't read it, I suggest "Fate is the Hunter". You'll realize these arguments and discussions about the career field we've collectively chosen have been going on since the dawn of commercial aviation!