The vast majority of lifers are fantastic to fly with, and their choice to stay has nothing to do with discipline. Picture being in an era where you had to deal with 9/11, the age 65 increase, SARS, and the global economic downturn. Add all of that in with how AA's first-year pay was, a wife, kids, mortgage, and these guys couldn't afford to go to AA. The lifers are making decent coin at Envoy, and for many of them, the pay cut, going back to reserve, and commuting to another base for an extended period wasn't worth it for them.