No, we don't. And don't mistake what I think could happen as wishing it would. I have good friends at UAL trying to pay the bills and raise the kids just like the rest of us. And having been furloughed it's the last thing I'd wish upon friend or foe.

But I think NK is a better product to weather the next economic downturn than UAL is. It's coming up on 10 years since the August-October 2008 near crash and I feel another, but hopefully not as severe, recession is due. I would sleep better being on the bottom of NK's seniority list than I would UAL's but that's just my opinion. Hopefully the retirements will offset the need to furlough anyone when the time comes. I hope in five years we can all look back and get a good laugh at how far off my prediction was. I'll even buy the first round.

We were nearly dead last in compensation when we started this three years ago facing a hostile moderator and an NMB that is 'ranking' airlines in terms of scale and compensation. As long as the details aren't dorked up then I'll be happy with what has been proposed. I would rather make 90% of what others think I should make for the rest of my career than to temporarily be leading the pack during the historical boom/bust and industry leading/concessionary contracts while sweating furloughs, mergers, and bankruptcies. Flying and making $240/ hour is far, far better than watching others make $266/ hour while awaiting recall.

And make no mistake, the outside input and opinions are appreciated. It's good to hear others points of view, especially during such complex and drawn out negotiations. After we get the details we'll all have to dig in deeper and have a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly and weigh our wants against our risk tolerance.