Why does the raise have to come in September? If they're giving us a raise outside of the provisions of our CBA, they could potentially do it anytime. It's in their best interest to delay.

Operationally, things are going fine. We made it through summer and the Airbus transition. In four weeks, the schedule pulls back for fall. Where's the emergency?

On the economy front, it looks more and more like we're headed for a soft landing, but that's not guaranteed. What manager is going to stick his/her neck out and issue an unnecessary raise three months before plowing into a recession? Why not go so slow? Wait for smoke or even fire, then pull the fire handle.

And, at some point, we will reach peak pilot shortage. I don't know when that happens, but it will happen. It's another reason to delay.

Shy makes a valid point, albeit over and over and over again. People who want to leave will leave. There are very few fence sitters. The cost to convince people to stay will be huge. It'll take base options, schedule flexibility, work rules changes, and entirely new payscale with increases everywhere. Management won't go there until they're forced by circumstances.