Not sure what you are reading EF. Let me try the link now that I'm on a PC.

http://www.jamhoff.com/PDFs/ArbitratorDecisionAward.pdf

These are Bloch's words, not the TWU's:

"The Financial Picture
From the evidence, it is clear enough that the merger with AWA was a
meaningful factor in U.S. Airway’s emergence from bankruptcy. Together, the
two companies were able to attract investments that, operating alone, they might
not have secured. However, West’s
claim that U.S. Airways emerged from
bankruptcy “only because it [was] acquired by a stronger enterprise”
10
is reflected
neither in the KPMG audit report (cited by West)
11
nor in any other portion of the
evidence...."

I agree with a lot of your post. AA is larger, with more widebodies. I see then as having a leg up in this merger because more AA pilots stand to reach a higher pay level. But, while I'm sure the APA will argue that they saved us, we have the APA's lovefest with our CEO and the fact that nobody outside of AMR gave your management's plan a chance of working. Looks like the merger served us both,