Pinnacle also had a clause in their contract saying "if a strike at Pinnacle leads to a certain percentage of Pinnacle planes not flying for seven days or more, Northwest can terminate the agreement." Why on earth any airline pilot union would agree to language like that, I do not know. However, it eviscerates any leverage you might have had at Pinnacle regardless of a strike vote. No leverage therefore leads to long, drawn-out negotiations.

Pinnacle's union also requested binding arbitration from the NMB which is a sign to me that they knew they had very little leverage given the above contractual clause. Binding arbitration is the last thing I'd want as a union. However, given the above contractual clause, it was probably their best option.