Congratulations to the Republic pilots who now have much more bargaining power to get a market rate contract. Congratulations to the union lawyers for finally growing some snowballs. They finally will get to see what a court room looks like. Its like watching a paraplegic step out of his wheel chair and learn he was never paralyzed after all.

ALPA should be filing. Companies are not allowed to pay employees outside of the CBA. The CBA is the law. I don't believe they would even have to grieve it first. The system board of adjustment is to resolve disputes of interpretation. The bonuses are a clear violation and not an interpretation dispute. See Conrad v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 494 F.2d 914, 917-18. The airlines need to compete based upon their contracts and not by offering the prospective employees money not called for in the contract.

Nobody is being sandbagged. If republic gets a better contract pilots will go there when the other bonuses are gone. If the other airlines want to attract pilots they can go to their unions and ask to increase pay rates. Once the other airlines get new contracts to attract pilots and the pilots go there, then Republic can then ask to increase the rates again. Eventually, the market level is reached. People become pilots again.

Of course the G7 pilots will still be sitting at the minimum wage rates that they have been enjoying and drool over the possibility that Delta may give them 5 more planes.