I agree in principle that time put in with a company should be honored. I had a friend from ground school who was hired at Piedmont just before they announced the merger with USAir in 1989. He got hired at a bustling airline that was doing well, and expected to have a decent career.

Fast forward to today, and he's been an FO his entire career and furloughed twice. He was significantly below the "new guy" at AWA, and he felt that Nicolau basically threw out his entire career and all the work he put in towards the airline, and I can fully understand how he feels.

At the same time, I can understand how some at AWA were resentful that a "deal" that was supposedly made was then not implemented, through whatever legal maneuvering that was done. I can understand from their perspective that they feel cheated and it "stalled" their careers, and in fact one guy lamented in another board how USAPA "destroyed" his career. But comparing the two, it's hard to say the Nic would have been fair from the perspective of the ex-Piedmont guy as well.

I think everyone should just take a step back and hope for a much better do-over. This is our chance to "make it right" and put the pieces back together. That's my opinion, from an ex-military guy who wasn't on either side during the past drama...