Originally Posted by Hotel Pen

DCA 321 FO said:
"They will screw us if we accept this deal as it stands, get your finances in order and wait 1 year for the bigger raise."

Just Jack said:
"On the other hand, although you will likely get less in arbitration, at least you went down fighting and Parker will not get to flaunt what he did to us in the press."

Just so everything is clear here: If these negotiations go to arbitration the AAL group pilots will not get 'bigger raises;' the rates will most likely be much lower than the rates that are on the table now. I think this is what Canoe is getting at. A snapshot on Jan. 1, 2016 is taken and that is it. If DAL gets an industry leading contract on Jan. 2, 2016 the pay parity mechanism still references what DAL and UAL both had in place in Jan. 1, 2016 only, and it's a one time adjustment.

I agree that with big profits looming, now is not the time for concessions, but if this goes to arbitration AAL pilots will be leaving significant money in the table.

An analogy: A 7 year old kid who gets 3 bucks a week in allowance from his folks. He tells his dad he wants 5 bucks a week and his dad says the family can only afford 4 bucks a week. The kid says "screw you dad I'll stick with the 3 bucks a week!" and then tells all his friends: "I showed my dad!"

That may be a bit of an oversimplification, but it seems pertinent in this case to the current situation. The contract as it stands now is the worst of the big 3 legacies and going to arbitration simply locks it in for a few more years and leaves a significant amount of money on the table.

I just hope people are thinking rationally about this.

-Hotel Pen