Well I think that you need to take work rules and pay rates into consideration at the same time. NWA work rules and pay rates gave me a $1,000 higher gross pay check for the first 2 years under the Delta work rules and higher pay rates. I had to work or be away from home 34 more days the first year and 37 more days the second year to make the same pay check. My hours were exactly the same or within 10 - 20 hours per year. Work rules can be huge in terms of increasing pay. What would my paycheck have been had I worked 34 more days at NWA??? Plus we got time and a half for anything over 80 hours. Not saying that we had a better contract at all, just that we had a few good work rules that improved quality of life. In general, it seems that most everyone focuses on pay rates here, but I'm here to tell you that for me personally time away from home ranks right up there with pay rates. My slogan: MAX pay for MIN time away. However, there have been a lot of changes to deal with the main one being the god awful FAR 117. What a mess that is. It seems to me a few good work rules would increase the check and may not be so hard for the company to swallow. Who knows??