Originally Posted by goose15

There are several points I would like to touch on this TA. Hard to know where to start, but here we go...

First and foremost is the length of this agreement. We all agree it is a long time and if you read our CBA 1F.7, one of the restrictions is that such agreements should be of 3 years in length, renewable for 3 years at a time. I would have been a lot more comfortable with a time frame like that, plus let’s say a 12 month wind down. Still trying to get a good answer on this one.

They kept saying that we would “gain” the equivalent of flying 40 airplanes. If you read the Q&A carefully, on this question their answer is: What the Company publicly stated is bringing back 40 airplanes “Quicker” than planned. We were all looking for that in writing, myself included, because we all know as pilots, that the more we fly, the better for us.
In reality, all they are saying is that they have a forecast model and a plan. If all goes according to plan, we will get those 40 airplanes in the air faster with this agreement. I have to agree that with a larger customer base, if demand comes back, flying will return faster with this agreement in place.
The real question is, who will be doing the flying, and I don’t see any guarantees that it will be Us. Regardless of this Enhanced Codeshare going forward or not, those airplanes are either gonna fly when demand comes back or they will continue grounded if demand doesn’t come.

After reaching out and talking to one of my local LEC, what I was told was:
It started with a little bit of the backstory to this agreement. AA having a large amount of debt and they got into this with one of the worse balance sheets in the Industry. They knew very well that going thru Chapter 11 was a very real possibility and quite likely at this point. Supposedly they will file for it by this Summer and as any other restructuring, chop a lot of flying, shrink the Company and keep only their most profitable routes. Which we all know, the NE was never their forte.
With all that being said, at some point last year, AA had approached JB to engage in this partnership, because they didn’t want to pull out and lose customers/market share to the other Legacies in the NE market. That’s where we come in. The way they envisioned this was that, we would largely operate the way we always have, plus pick up some of that flying that they will have to chop (think of the Slots that are temporarily given to us per the agreement). They will do what’s most profitable to them and we will do the same. Take all of that as you want, maybe it was lip service to get this forward.

I know JB has something to gain from all of this, or else they wouldn’t be as interested and excited. The question is, does it benefit our careers? Thinking more long-term here.

I feel that there are so many things at play and this TA wasn’t written well enough to accommodate that.