It's in the TPA which is a document agreed to by all three parties, AS mgt, VX MEC, and AS MEC. Pretty much every merger prior once the merger date is announced, pilots hired after on either side are placed in DOH order at the bottom of the list. Merger announcement was Apr 4 and closed in Dec 14th, at which point VX became wholly owned by the AS Air Group. If you wanted to work at AS, why wouldn't you apply to VX?