Originally Posted by
80ktsClamp
You can thank your Comair bros for you not getting a staple. That is what set the trend after their DOH grab 15 years ago.
There was no "grab." In fact, the DAL MEC was not all that interested in merger talks.
It was more than a DOH land grab though. While they certainlly would have tried for that, most knew, including the RJDC architects, that they wouldn't likely get it.
The big prize was taking the runway, reaching V1 and going for it. At that point it wouldn't matter what they'd get, as they felt at that point a staple was the absolute floor, DOH the ceiling, and they would likely get something in between. IOW why agree to a staple, even if you would accept one, if you thought you could get more from an arbitrator?
I bet someone still has the PID meeting (pre-RJDC movement by the same top brass) handout laying around somewhere that has a Q&A section. I'm slightly paraphrasing (its VERY close though):
Q: What if ALPA says no.
A: ALPA can't say no.
Q: So then what will the merger look like? DOH, relative, staple, etc?
A: While no one can be certain what an arbitrator will do, typically in a merger a staple is the floor and DOH is the maximum and often they settle for something in between.
While some senior ASA/CMR guys were definately salivating and doing some mental fantasy bidding scenarios over DOH, the guys turning the wheels knew it was possible but unlikely. Their real goal was to just get to arbitration. They would have accepted a staple with protections, but they absolutely had to attempt to "go for it" first. That's what completely poisioned the well. In their arrogance and greed they drastically overplayed their hand.
This is a much more accurate summation. Yes, a few of the most senior guys wanted DOH, but of that small number, even fewer actually thought it was possible. The other 99+% knew that the combined ASA/CMR list (the merger of that particular list had been agreed upon a few years prior in anticipation of something like this) would be arbitrated, and likely wind up as a staple of some sort.
Make no mistake: ALPA
did NOT want a merger of any regional list into mainline. They fought the very concept kicking and screaming, and this was the genesis of the RJDC, which is still something that most pilots--and almost all Delta pilots--don't understand. This was a DFR issue, plain and simple, and ALPA got very creative in their arguments against it.
Just for the record, it happened to be Comair and ASA because they were the first large RJ operators to be purchased by a company with the same union on property. Had it been USAir buying Mesa or United buying ACA, chances are it would have all played out the same way.
Had this issue been properly addressed in the early 2000's, the landscape would be drastically different: pay across the board would be higher, RJ's would still exist, but mainline pilots would be flying them, there would have been a faster reduction of the 50 seat fleet, and there would be far more E-170/190 variants flying.