I appreciate you taking the time to post this info.

My initial inclination is still NO.

It seems the MEC is plying the adage "A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush" with this TA being the bird and the unknown of a rejected TA being the bush.

Why is it a foregone conclusion that IF this TA is rejected that a protracted section 6 process will then unfold. Isn't that just ONE of many possibilities? If MGT was so eager to complete this 7 months early isn't it also feasible that a rejected TA could be tweaked and completed ahead of schedule as well?

I've heard it said that in business, you never accept a first offer and that if you're not willing to say "NO", then you're not really negotiating.

I guess we're at the point in the new car negotiation where the salesman says "I gotta talk to my manager." and we say the same thing and turn to our wife. ha ha.

I spoke with 1 of our LEC reps so far regarding this and he states the negotiating committee HAS said NO several times and walked away and that this was as far as they could get given that, in general, other pilot groups are not helping us gain any leverage (FedEx, UPS, UAL, AMR... forgot to ask about SWA) and that any leverage we have has been played as far MGT is concerned. The only leverage we may have remaining is a strike and that would take years of meditation to reach.

So we really are dealing with an unknown if we reject this TA and what is each of our levels of comfort facing that unknown. It is possible that a protracted section 6 may unfold. It is also possible that the current agreement may be massaged and sweetened a bit.