Originally Posted by AutoEverything

There is no benefit to JB pilots in merging with another small, young pilot group like VA, Spirit, etc. In an ideal world, we'd merge with a giant legacy with tons of retirements who would view us as a solution to the upcoming scarcity of pilots qualified to fill their seats. They'd keep us employed because we as a pilot group would be as much a selling point as the routes and terminals. We fly around with nearly a 90% load factor and opening a new route means shutting down an existing route due to lack of airframes. We're lean enough to survive a merger with a legacy, let's not screw it up by merging with an equal and all stagnating at the same seniority level for the next 20+ years.

That being said, I'm speaking of an absolutely ideal world. In a more realistic world, myself and other younger FOs get hired at a legacy and just put JB in our rear view mirror rather than taking the risk of wasting our young age on a sloowwwwwwly growing carrier with very little attrition.