What RJSAviator said, and...

Questions I’d have about Republic’s case to start would be:
1) When was the CBA’s amendable date?
2) When was mediation filed for?
3) When was strike authorization taken? What was result?
4) Any accusations of illegal job actions?
5) Any motions filed by Republic management against the pilots?

SWA’s mechanics were also in negotiations and mediation for 7+ years. That’s not evidence that the RLA is broken. That’s a direct result of the mechanics not playing the RLA game well.

To begin with, they waited more than 3 years from their contract amendable date until they filed for mediation. They had at least two motions filed against them for illegal job actions. They even had a no strike clause in their CBA (of dubious enforceability). All of those things and more set them up for 7+ years for a new CBA.

They were their own worst enemy. They got outplayed by a smarter management team. Victory goes to the smarter side.

And SWAPA’s last round of negotiations and mediation? Similar story. There are perhaps 50 pilots within our group who have more than a first grade understanding of the RLA, including, many within SWAPA. That’s why TA1 nearly passed and that’s why our CBA lags the industry in many important ways.

If an adequate number of our pilots understood the RLA, you wouldn’t have heard and continue to hear things like:

1) We’ll never get released (as if that’s the only thing that matters and the case is therefore closed).
2) The NMB will just put us on ice forever (ergo, we might as well vote yes sooner than later)
3) The President will just shut down any strike (therefore, we have no leverage under the RLA).
4) The RLA is stacked against labor (it’s not - it’s stacked against the less intelligent side).
5) The NMB will just drag our mediation for years (this is a variation of the “they’ll put us on ice forever” argument. But there’s some truth that they will allow us to stay in mediation longer than we like if we don’t play the game well).