This is key. No matter how you slice it, no "big" airline has gotten anything significant done in the last, what, 10 years or so. We should be building on USAirs, CAL's, AMR's and UAL's contract. Instead we've done our own thing on the merger contract, the many improvements outside of section 6, and now it looks like a full on renegotiate (maybe) before our peers, and THEN be ready to negotiate again by the time (and maybe before) they wrap up their originals. I think the key is the ball keeps moving forward.

(although I still need a few tweeks before I'm a "yes")