The bottom line here is that the company is indeed in a far better position now than either was before the merger. The East would have been gone and AWA would have had to find another partner to merge with. If there was a single SLI and a joint contract both pilot groups would have benefitted from this. Instead, we have management as the sole winners in this contest.

With an AA/US merger both pilot groups (all 3 if you count US as 2) will benefit eventually. The SLI procedure is straightforward and the joint contract is covered by the APA term sheet. It may not be an instant win for the pilots since this term sheet is concessionary by in the long run, say 5 years from date of merger, it will be a good thing for all.

I still only have this as a 75% chance of going through.