A lot of us did. Truth is it was the only place that would hire regular line pilots. Hell, the AA application had a check box for
astronaut time.
That being the case, the interview pass rate was still pretty low. The number I heard, in one particular month, was 20 hires with 64 interviews.
Even had the east/west stayed separate, 80% of the east guys were to retire in <8 years.
If the lists merged, you're getting a raise with the new contract. Win/win.
Airways was a gamble but it was a calculated one. In a couple years, the 3rd list pilots would've made a sizeable group and the union would've been overtaken with them, and things would've moved on. The company was consistently one of the few making money, posting higher margins than all the other network carriers.
IMO, we were lucky either way, but in the end we won the lottery. If it doesn't/didn't work out, who cares, at least we got the regional stank off of us
!
It's all luck and timing. "Don't hate the playa, hate the game."