I think the answer to that is yes, it is truly binding because it will be done with the force of federal law - McCaskille Bond and not contract law - ALPA merger policy. The argument that USAPA has made is that the Nicolau was done under a union contract and not a federally mandated arbitration.

Further to that is everyone from investors to management is well aware of how this has played out at US Airways. You can see some of the vocal elements here, and you can see the vitriol. No one wants a repeat of this again. Management will insist that whatever list is produced in the SLI will be the list. Parker could have done that years ago, he chose not to do it to save ion labor costs by whipsawing the two groups. He will not make that mistake again, the stakes are much larger this time and getting the contract done first will prevent the pay/workrules imbalance that has resulted in the stalemate we have here.

I would not expect long fences, either. If the ratio is done right there is little need for fences because everyone is slotted in by aircraft type and the seat they hold going into the merger. Management wants few restrictions on their ability to shift crews around the system, moving aircraft and people to more productive routes. We will see how this goes. I am awaiting the end of the NDA and our ability to see the MOU. That will give us some indication of how management wants this process to go through and it will show us the mechanism to get one contract and the path to industry standard wages and conditions. That's the real goal here.