I have no idea how many pilots will bypass a recall at US Air but my F/O this last trip is furloughed from UAL and he said it was running about 3 calls for every returnee. Really, unless you are out of aviation or have a bad job then there is not too much incentive to go back on the bottom of the list. Bypass until you can hold a decent line or see how the industry shakes out. I know there are a lot of Jet Blue pilots from AAA, would they come back to an airline in the midst of a merger? I sure wouldn't.

Red, I have no idea how this will all shake out. I talk to our negotiators fairly often since I know them all and they don't have a clue how the final list will go. The contract negotiators (a separate bunch) have made a lot of progress in combining our contracts so that is a positive sign. Of course the fact that the AWA contract is better in almost all areas is kind of depressing to me but both sides have been working well together. Ultimately this will probably go to arbitration. The AAA pilots seem to be stuck on the DOH concept while we are happy with relative seniority. The result is an impass right now and thus it most likely will go to the arbitrator. The soonest he can meet with them is in October (for 1 week only) so not much will happen until next fall. I don't see us being combined until next May (2007) so the division of flying until then and the placement of the recalled pilots and new airplanes is a big deal to both sides. I think we will have a great airline when this is done but it sure will be ugly until it's over. Shotgun marriages usually are.