We were already in section 6, management choose to ignore the pilots were due to recover concessions for the ESOP. We told them we were not going to pay for it twice. The pilots did not forget, and they were less than pleased during the summer of 2000. That was the leverage. It was the end of an era though, after that, management found they could run to the courts and take hostages for overt acts of pilot displeasure.

Dubinsky played Goodwin like a fiddle. When all was said and done, and the contract was about to be signed, he said, "Oh Jim, one more thing," remember that 1% increase we talked about for the B fund, and it was so. It was a great contract, but who could have guessed 911 was just around the corner.

We lost Dubinsky to politics when he was most needed, simply because the ants that populated the MEC at the time did not understand that personality is secondary to performance. The stakes were much higher then, as those furloughed will attest.

Pay is the one thing upon which everyone agrees they will benefit. I don't recall the pilots have ever given up pay to fix someone else's working conditions, but there is always hope.

No doubt, there is more going on with MEC politics than the line pilots will ever know, be careful who you believe.