Originally Posted by
Rseat
Waterskisabersw and Lew, wasn’t Republic held in mediation purgatory for years?
Being granted a release could also involve the political scene and flavor of the time. I’m encouraged with the current three person NMB panel. The chair and one other member have had ties to unions in the past. Not a sure indicator, but better odds of having a more sympathetic view toward unionized labor..
The RLA favors the side that is more informed and knowledgeable than the other. Nothing against the RAH or Pinnacle (or other examples of extreme extended negotiations), but having a transient work group, negotiating team, and union leadership group, combined with the facts that regional pilots are generally less experienced and less well-funded than their major airline peers does not bode well for navigating the careful path a union must take in order to secure a release.
Looking at the majors is much more appropriate. Two recent examples of protracted negotiations are Atlas and Spirit. Both involved examples of high turn over and alleged illegal job actions, among other things, which were used to inflate the meditation timeline.
Spirit ended up getting released (a feat not accomplished by RAH or 9E), while atlas bafflingly went to arbitration.
For your last part, political flavors do change. Both RAH and 9E had the majority of their negotiations under one administration, for whatever that's worth. Secondly, the political favor shown towards SWA right now is decidedly negative. We have few friends on Wallstreet, Capitol Hill, or the media.