Originally Posted by gloopy

You're blurring more lines than you're clarifying here. DL could liquidate while EDV remains. Don't think it can't happen. Pan Am, Eastern, etc. If something were to happen that truly endangered the airline, they could easily sell off EDV or spin them off to make quick cash while dismembering the husk of the former mainline.

I agree that mainlines have more "power" but ironically they have more limited leverage than you think. Short of agreeing to massive concessions (IMO far more than it would actually even cost due to the value of flexibility to management) there is no way outside of holding the line during a strike to achieve what you are advocating for as a unilateral effort by a mainline or "the union".

The best leverage will come from us holding the lines and not allowing more viable airframes, the "pilot shortage" forcing costs significantly upward, and maybe strike(s) at the regional level. CMR settled for an industry leading contract at the time, but no scope. That was a recipe for disaster especially since it occurred during a growth phase for the lift but during a relative glut of pilots across the system.

A legally striking regional today would have WAY more leverage. And I would think they'd get some help from mainlines and the rest of the industry. I'd gladly pay a relatively large assessment to give them all the leverage they needed to raise the bar and squash the model. And I think striking or furloughed ALPA pilots should get preference anyway. UAL does a much better job at that than we do, but the guard is changing and hopefully we can as well.