Cactiboss said

"The East won't be punished unfortunately, but *if* the west gets a seat I fully expect the usairways pilots to be ordered in Nicolau order. That will be the loudest message the arbitrators can send.
I don't get how you come up with widebody fences on usairways aircraft for west pilots, those are as much our airplanes as the easts."

I had no intention to reply to any as I refuse to play third grader, but I have a bit of free time now and I did not elucidate my post to R57. I think you are incorrect to expect the NIC list. There are currently three list. The West will be getting a seat at the table with their West list. While you can propose using the NIC, it would, I think put you into CALs shoes. Best pay attention before you get a CAL shoe up your six. They are not going to use two list. Three. It will be a combination of those three in my opinion (which is worth what you paid for, but I have been good at guessing as an outsider on legal issues). As far as wide body seats, the East will certainly ask for a fence, citing your lack of expectation to fill one. I would doubt they would get that wish, but with the right strategy they might pull it off. Unless they are punished. Worrying about the WB seats is foolish at this time. Your focus should be APA, not USAPA. That combined final number is the most important thing you will ever get. The CAL pilots learned a hard lesson. They are not a happy group.

One thought about the Jess Pauley cross. I would have nailed him harder on pilot order. He talked about needing both East and West for the best results. If the message is as I believe, the loss of the West to independent representation is part of the price the East will pay for avoiding the NIC (along with the loss of income and years of sub-standard working conditions). The East will be in a weaker position against APA. USAPA is NOT the East pilots. USAPA's failure to get a deal with East and West will hurt both a great deal. As I said part of the price both groups have to pay. As I said before, this is UAL/CAL all over again. I also had a very hard time following Wilder's argument and I am not the only one. I don't think he sold his line. I still think James sealed the deal in his opening. Clear and to the point. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I do wish all pilots in this the best in this. In my experience a few (well, 25%) will do fine, most will be micturating nails and razor blades.