Originally Posted by
Denny Crane
Well, I'm an outsider and all of the above. I just have one question.
Do you think you (the pilots at USAir) would be in this same situation, without a new contract in (how many years?) if the Nic had been accepted?
I'm not making a judgement for or against the Nic. It's not my place too. Just asking if you really believe you would be in the same situation all these years later?
Denny
I'd say there is a good chance we would be.
People only focus on what happened with USAPA and they forget that we had the ability to stall the Nic without forming USAPA. I firmly believe that would have happened and would have lasted well into the recession, at which time the company had it's rear in a crack with auction rate securities and fuel hedges. Then, what incentive would there have been to get a contract?
If we did have a contract, I believe it would only be marginally better than what we have and worse in some areas. With a severely divided pilot group do you think Parker would give us anything better?
Let's look at another angle. What if west had handled it differently. What if they said "We won't agree to reorder the Nic, but realize that with the TA we are in a tough spot, so we will look at any and all other solutions. We will stand up for our rights, but will work with the east on all other areas." Could things have been different? What if they hadn't gotten the company involved, wanting big damages?
I think we all screwed up.