The main reason why the company wants this LOA is because pilots will have to do their DL on their off time, not on company time.

144 aircraft by 2021, say 2500 pilots. 2 days of DL not on duty vs 2 days of DL in a crew room, on duty, is 5000 days a year of lost productivity from your workforce where we are not moving planes and someone needs to move those planes.

Say the average pilot works 180 days of duty a year 5000/180= 28 pilots a year. So my math shows they need 28 pilots less a year just on savings for us doing it off the clock. This is a minimum, doesn't account for any conflict drops of any kind.

28 pilots will be 1st year FO pay pilots. Even on guarantee thats a million a year in savings just on wages, not counting healthcare, social security taxes, training, etc.