>>PMFJI, but it was stated earlier that SWA's contract was negotiated in '95. They did not set the bar higher than other carriers at that time<<
That is not exactly true. SWA's rates today have very little to do with the old contract. Post 9/11, while everyone else was doing give backs, SWA/SWAPA negotiated an extension agreement that established today's rates. Even though it was technically an extension of the previous contract, the agreement had the highest pay rate increases of any previous SWA contract plus a multitude of improvements in many other areas, more so even than the original contract it extended.