I was dead set against this agreement, for all the reasons listed on this forum and more.

Until I went to a roadshow, talked to the reps, and got the story behind the story.

If you think this agreement is inferior to Delta's(like I do), here's why:

We are fighting ourselves(pilot groups), we are fighting ALPA nat'l(Lee Moak), and we are fighting the NMB(Linda Puchala); not to mention the managament of this airline. With odds like that, plus comparing our Mgt. to Delta Mgt., this could have been a lot worse.

This agreement is a major disappointment to me. However, if we want to get what we want we have to even out this fight, and the first step is to unify the pilot group. (Even though as a UA pilot in the bottom half of the list, I am none too excited about SLI).

All our political capital has been spent. Our retro was going to be $0.00 until we got political pressure put on Smisek. By our own analysis, our contract is worth more than Delta's overall; so who will help us now when we turn it down? Everyone who is supposed to be on our side in DC is patting themselves on the back for helping us get what they see as industry leading.

After this we are on our own. Best for the pilots to be finally on the same side.