Originally Posted by
eaglefly
"Newly aligned companions"..........now that's rich.
My foundations rise from the concept of maintaining pre-merger career expectations and the avoidance of windfalls. Obviously even that is a subjective standard depending on position in this ménage-a-trois. As for APA admitting anything, now THAT is a stretch. No, what happened was eaglefly revealed HIS beliefs on what the APA will do regarding the Nic, which.........is essentially what they have done. Punt. Another streeeeeetch, is the idea that by soberingly and accurately assessing that the Nic might be worse for AA pilots interests then without it that they are somehow "involving" themselves in the Nic. Just as the West has the right to argue FOR the Nic without prejudice by the arbitrators, others are entitled to the same latitude in arguing against it. If you think any one of the three sides (or perhaps 2) is going to argue strictly for the interests of another, you're mistaken.
The misguided claim that to do so would somehow be criticizing a well-respected colleague is baseless. Nicolau's award was made with only two of the three ingredients that now exist present and indeed the recipe is far, FAR different then when it was cooked by Nicolau. You're belief that APA and the East will conspire against the West is also misguided. Yes, one or both may argue for integration models that don't incorporate the Nic, but at least in the case of the APA, I don't think it will be intended as a direct attack on the West. The APA has no duty whatsoever to place the interests of West pilots above legacy AA pilots and the best argument I can see from ANY side is one founded on giving any given pilot what he or she had before the merger and could expect pre-merger. While you're at it, I'd suggest reading the UAL-CAL arbitration for an heads up on how arbitrators look at pre-merger conditions of each carrier and their ability to wade through the biased chaff. They'll look at each carrier closely to determine that information and in the case of AA, I'm confident they will see exactly what that BK was all about.
1.5 billion last quarter is hard to ignore.
Pre-merger career expectations of the west and east prior to the merger... What do you think that is? I would say that involves the Nicolau award, there wasn't going to be another arbitration otherwise. Unless, you have some sort of inside EF info here, I do not know. But it you want to go down the "career expectation" path, the 1.5 billion you cited was after the snapshot date, not before. You need to keep things relevant, which on here is sometimes hard because this a message board based on opinions.
That said, wading through your verbiage above I only got out of it one argument: The Nicolau is dated therefore it cannot be used because AA is now in the picture. Again, that is quite a stretch to disregard it with just that kind of thinking because clearly the west can agree that it has already occurred and therefore cannot be undone. The onus is on the east to explain why an east/ west seniority list which has already been accepted by the company should not be used. You and your east friends can declare the Nic dead, if I had a quarter for every time an east pilot said that I would be retired by now. But if that is the best you have then I will rest pretty well, if the west gets a seat at the table.