Hi Oldfreightdawg,

I guess I'm an old freight dawg also.

Ozark pilots DID get DOH. The entire merger is public knowledge. The Ozark pilots beef with the TWA pilots -in general- is that the TWA pilots were a much more senior group. The trade off was the Ozark pilots got the opportunity to fly widebody aircraft internationally. AND because the OZ pilots were given DOH as opposed to the staple job which would have given them seniority dates of approx 1986, they were able to keep their jobs after the merger with AA.

If you don't believe me, ask any green guy which pilot was #3 on our seniority list in the late 1990s. It was R-squared, who was our VP of Flight Ops..side note:every greenie knows who R-squared is. So OFD, you can see it differently, and I respect that, but if you research the merger you will see they got DOH AND the OZ pilots signed the merger document. I have a lot of green guy friends, but their claim that they were screwed by TWA because they got DOH might be valid, but it was nothing to the career-ending integration given to us by the APA.

OFD, you are absolutely correct in principle. The APA told con man, Don Carty that they didn't want to merge with TWA not to mention have any red tails on the property. Don Carty met with then-MEC, John Darrah and the APA BOD. Darrah served the pilots well, in exchange for not protesting the merger, Darrah was able to get years of service restored for the APA pilots that were furloughed in the mid 90s, able to get a favorable resolution to the $45 million fine levied against the APA for their sickout, and was given free reign by AMR to do with the TWA pilots as they saw fit.

I understand the APA's greed and lust for all of the TWA positions. But there is no reason for the APA to refer to the professionals at TWA as hotdog vendors, kmart pilots that didnt deserve jobs-the jobs at TWA should be given to the APA pilots because the American Airlines pilots were the Saks 5th Ave pilots of the industry. And finally, APA Ed White's famous quote, we screwed you (expletive deleted) because we can. We TWA pilots can put our safety record against that of the AA pilots any day and show we have not had a pilot error fatality since the late 60's. The pilots at AA can not make the same claim, my point is, how can you judge another pilot group so harshly when you dont have the credentials to back it up. TWA pilots bring this point up often, not to trample the dead, but to prove to the APA that we are more than competent.

Are mergers fair ? Usually not.
My first merger was back in 93'...Suburban Airlines/Allegheny Commuter and Penn Airlines. DOH was the method used, and after a few jabs at each other we were all singing Kumbayah because it was handled fairly. So yes it can be done. John Darrah's from the APA used the methodology that if you were hired after Carl Icahn bought TWA, you did not have career plans at TWA and thus should not be given any seniority at the merged American Airlines. OFD, ask any Ozark pilot if they had any career plans after they were merged with TWA in 1986. IF they weren't given DOH, they would have suffered the same career ending integrations as 1800 of the TWA pilots. If you don't believe me, ask around of how many OZ pilots got stapled because they didnt have career plans with TWA..the answer: Zero.

You asked, will the 1800 pilots come back. I'm not sure. Cant answer for them, nor do I have to cross that bridge right now. But I can tell you, most that come back from 4-7 years of furlough are going to want "payback". AMR is not the enemy, it's the APA that put us on the street.

To come full circle with the thread, I do hope the APA gets the best possible contract. However, it's a flaw to their strategy to divide themselves with the red tails. This, in my humble opinion will only serve to weaken their bargaining position at the nego. table. Hopefully professionals like AA73 and others that read/post on this board will influence their union to concentrate on getting everything they can in the Collective bargaining agreement, as opposed to watching managment, once again, enjoy bonuses earned by the employees because they were too distracted by the further cleansing of red tails.