None of that matters now because the TA is going to pass with something like an 85% vote in favor of ratification.

The company bargaining in good faith does not necessarily buy them an extra couple of years in mediation. Bargaining in good faith is simply the bare-bones legal requirement that arises out of the RLA's obligation to "exert every reasonable to make and maintain agreements."

If the mediator senses that movement toward an agreement is still possible by using the various tactics available to a mediator to spur on negotiations, then mediation will continue (unless mediation proceeds on a basis that is "patently arbitrary" and for a period that is "patently unreasonable"). If the mediator determines that the parties are at an impasse, then they will recommend to the NMB that the parties be released from mediation. This could happen in months or in years. In the case of the railroads that just wrapped up a few weeks ago, it took months. In many other cases, it has taken years.

It's possible that both sides bargaining in good faith simply refuse to bend any further to the demands of the other despite the best efforts of the mediator to bring about an agreement. The Ninth Circuit explained in a 1980 RLA case that "obstinate and unyielding" positions do not violate the requirements of good faith bargaining.

If "obstinate and unyielding" positions on both sides result in an impasse, then a release may become realistic in well under a couple of years even though both sides are bargaining in good faith.