History lesson...that pay rate was won when DAL got the 2000 United + 1 pay rate. The United pay rate was a straight out bribe to get the UAL pilots to accept the proposed UA/US merger that never got off the ground.

Its also the pay rate that put UA into bankruptcy after which DAL did a "Me, too!" filing the day before the law changed to keep airlines from unilaterally dumping pension plans.

One could make the argument that pay rate put you into bankruptcy court, too.