We can have lengthy debates about whether the net result was acceptable or not, but in a way, we voted almost 2:1 in favor of taking the gain, and moving forward.

I suppose you could say we helped close the gap with Southwest, but, really who cares about Southwest? When we get back to payrates at or above Southwest, should we stop? Of course not.

I don't agree with using them as a benchmark, but I think we can all agree that even the most ardent supporters of C2012 didn't claim it to be a stand-alone achievement. It's Time to get some more Money for our Value to the company.

My concern is that we're completely distracted with power struggles, and power plays. I haven't been asked about Part 117 trade-offs, and interim objectives. I wasn't asked for input on the Pacific deal, and I didn't get to ratify it. I haven't seen systematic polling in a very long time. These are the things we should be doing. I saw a couple of good posts by Gloopy in the L&G about Part117. The surprising thing was, after all this Southwest/DPA/Election stuff, it barely registered.

Then I realized we're completely failing to focus on the basics. We're not talking about the details of our profession. While we vomit on and on about Alinski, and while people [bleep] around with each other's councils, we're actually forgetting what's in the contract, never mind what should be in the contract.

Between the Virgin JV, Part 117, TATL JV, and possibly a follow-on transaction, our window for max leverage is going to close. We better have a VERY good idea of what we need, because the company needs us only for a few more pieces of the puzzle. After that, they'll play defense only, and run out the clock. The only kind of engagement you'll get thereafter will be when your CP wants to know why you're sick.