Couple of points to ponder:

1)Ask virtually any original SWA pilot if this was a merger of equals, they will say heck no! Ask virtually any former ATN pilot if this was a merger of equals, they will say heck yes! All of the angst on both sides originates from this fundamental difference of views.

2)With every passing day, it is becoming ever more apparent that the #1 reason for SWA acquiring ATN was as a convenient means to eliminate a pesky competitor. Sucks, but it's just how the business evolves sometimes. Gaining access to the ATL was just icing on the cake. It seems clear now that SWA views the ATL as primarily an O&D market and not a hub, and is sizing the operation there accordingly (safe to say Delta is defending the motherland better than United has done in DEN....credit where credit is due, Richard.) Consider also that after all the dust has now settled, ATN pilots have only brought over one-third of "their" aircraft (and Captain's seats), yet ALL their pilots continue to be employed by SWA. That is definitely not nothing, but gets precious little acknowledgement from most ATN pilots. Any of you still think arbitration would have been a panacea with that fact now in the mixture? It would have come to light before arbitration was complete; no way Gary could have put off the deal with Delta for that long. It is also further evidence to me that Gary wasn't bluffing when he threatened to not integrate ATN with SWA. I believe he wanted ATN gone and was going to accomplish it the easy way (integration), or if need be, the much less pleasant way (fragmentation). 80% of your pilots voted in the best interests of their careers when their true lack of leverage came to light....and yep, they pretty much had a gun to their heads. 80% of our pilots also voted in what they thought was the best interests of their careers....and probably 50% of them now feel like chumps for not going to arbitration in light of what happened to the 717s.

3)Frank and Whack, I'm sorry that your cheese has been moved so much. I really am. But in the new consolidated airline landscape, it is a completely unrealistic assumption that ATN could have remained a stand-alone carrier. That's the perils of being a smaller fish in the big industry pond. ATN succeeded in the years leading up to the SWA purchase largely due to Delta's "lost decade" of big losses, bankruptcy, and merger. IOW, they were too distracted with bigger issues to put up an effective fight against ATN in the ATL. How do you think a stand-alone ATN would be holding up now to the new Delta? Be honest...
Maybe you would have fared better being acquired by an airline other than SWA....maybe not. JetBlue, Alaska, Hawaiian, Spirit, and Virgin are all likely in the same boat: most of them will not survive the next five years in their present state, IMHO. Heck, SWA might not even survive as a stand-alone. Never say never...

4)I wish the deal had never happened, either. It has transformed the airline in many ways that are not for the better. Senior management absolutely owns ALL the results, from the recent impressive financials to the crappy operational performance and withering employee relations. Hopefully over time it will prove to be a good strategic move....even though to a lot of us line-swine it sure feels like a tactical failure on several fronts right now.

Here's to just putting it all behind us now and hoping for better times to come. One LUV, baby!