Ex Us Airways/America West guys feel free to chime in. But I see a very disturbing pattern emerging.

When up against the wall, Doug Parker is likely to panic and revert to his old trusted ways. Sure, Vasu talked a big game. But he's old AMR and saw first hand how bad decisions work. He most likely is on one page while Parker is on another.

Doug is feeling the squeeze, and it won't be long before we see him dust off his old playbook. Not because it works but because it's familiar to him:

Shrink to profitability. Bankruptcy. Attempted mergers. Rinse and repeat as many times as needed. Basically he will turn AA into Us Airways circa 2007. A larger mid size domestic airline with token international routes.

APA better wake up. They're going to learn what it means to sink or swim together. They're selling out a large chunk of our pilot group now, but soon it'll be their precious senior wide body pilots getting bent over without even the courtesy of lube.