Originally Posted by
symbian simian
Well, do you honestly believe everyone forgot how they were treated the moment they changed the gold for silver stripes? I know for a fact the last classes, quite a while afterwards, to go from 717 captain to 737 fo, regardless of seniority on the combined list felt poorly. Not just because of the downgrade, but the attitude received ( and given I'm sure) from the SWA side. It was very different from newhire class (again, both from close personal experience).
Having said all that, I have ex-TWA & AWA friends that feel the same about LAA and LUS so there's that.
I would rather pass on all.
It’s funny, because 7 years into the merger, the overwhelming majority of the former AirTran folks are very happy. Hell, about half of them I get 2 days into the trip before it comes out that they used to work for AirTran.
You would assume by listening to whack and a few others that it is the worse thing to ever happen to their careers.
It was a hard pill for some of them, I get that. Lives were uprooted in some cases and a lot of guys had to do a victory lap in the right seat. All that being said, 98 percent of them are just happy to be alive and flying the line at a solvent and functioning airline that allows them to spend 18-19 days a month at home with their families. 2 percent of them make 99 percent of the noise and won’t let it go. A lot of swa guys (myself included) lost seniority in the merger, but they don’t complain nearly as loud.
The juniorist AirTran FOs are coming into the upgrade window this upcoming year.
Management chose to give the majority of the AirTran fleet to their biggest domestic competitor and keep all the pilots. Such is life. The pilots were left with a crappy situation to handle...merge pilot groups without the airplanes. I think they handled it the best they could.