Minicucci thinks he's slick....
Mgm't is pi$$ing into the wind/backing themselves into a corner. Literally. They want to whipsaw us against Virgin? Fine. They can't do that without pi$$ing off EVERY workgroup at AS. I'm not just talking about pilots, but EVERYONE, CSA's, backoffice employees, everyone.
How?? Because what's the first thing they told us from day one/announcement? We're going to be one big happy family with Virgin. Koom by ya. If it turns out that their master plan all along was to whipsaw these two airlines against each other just to save $$$ on labor costs and that they lied to all of us to do it, then mgm't is going to have a LOT of VERY unhappy disgruntled employees who feel very betrayed and lied to. That doesn't bode very well for the productivity that they cherish so much.
So Brad & Ben now have a choice in this negotiating landscape where the pilots finally have the upper hand. Pony up more money and better work rules like every other CBA that has come out so far and actually merge the airlines like they promised they would and keep everybody happy, or keep delaying TPA negotiations and eventually whipsaw everyone against each other and have everybody at both airlines disgruntled, unhappy & never willing to trust managements words again. It’s their choice.
It comes down to this, what mgm't is racking their heads over right now guaranteed. "How can we whipsaw the two pilots groups against each other so we can save on labor costs but still merge the operations to keep everyone else happy?" You can't merge the operations. Not without a JCBA unless I'm missing something..
But how much you wanna bet they’re running the costs on both those scenarios?