Unless it is expressly prohibited by a CBA I wouldn’t put it past them. And I don’t think they’d be too worried about alienating pilots either. If guys at the LCCs knew they could start a legacy with years of longevity I’d be a true mass exodus. It would probably sink their competition. So a little bit of alienation wouldn’t offend them.

And btw. When was the last time these management types cared about alienation? How alienated you think they feel at UA and AA right now? They love fractured groups. Hell, that’s the big reason at AA they have APA and not ALPA, because they are so fractured.