This is different. When seniority lists were merged in 2001 when AA bought TWA, TWA didn't have a flow to AA. They were completely separate companies, and what we would later know as McCaskill-Bond had merit. The fences that were put up were unrealistic and senior TWA pilots had a genuine grievance. (Fun fact: there are still 12 of them on property at AA today.)

9E pilots have a flow program in place to get them to DL. Senior 9E pilots—if they opt to flow—already start at the bottom of the list. It's a moot-point.

What it would do is seriously throw into question the textual meaning behind the term "transfer of ownership or control" that the law is defined by, but that's for the lawyers.

AA definitely threw a grenade at 9E and DL by inking these latest LOAs with its wholly-owneds, but a staple doesn't create the type of seniority inversion that McCaskill-Bond protects against.