Originally Posted by Funk

Again, honest question: Would they be required to put those proposals on the money positions on the table, or would that be the desired agenda, with “readiness” of the negotiators (or pick your reason) that might preclude actual details?

If leaked details of their openers were their driving motivation, why not open with 6, 4, 4, 4? Or pick your semi benign bump up numbers and counter against the union’s retirement proposal? It would seem reasonable enough, and might stall the negotiations just as effectively until the joint application for mediation date without burning too many bridges.

One other thought: if our two closest competitors are also in negotiations, but aren’t remotely as profitable as we are as a company, wouldn’t a prudent move be to try to earnestly close a contract? Knowing that pattern negotiating would raise expectations for those pilot groups, despite either having the financial room to afford much more, it would seem like an easy win for our management. It would put additional heat on UAL, which seems to be in a cage match with its pilots over low end scope, and would put even more heat on AA, which likely can’t afford much of a raise considering their leveraged debt position and other operational issues. It seems we could steal even more market share of premium customers by squaring away our labor situation and simultaneously causing more problems for our closest peer competitors.