For anyone who didn’t watch the live broadcast it’s available on the website. I appreciated GT speaking candidly about how this policy developed over time. It started at management’s request for direct “street to seat” NH captains & worked its way down to what it is today. From his telling, it certainly seemed this was the company’s primary driver to get a deal done.

GT said something to the effect of “People have said if the improvements are sufficient why the need for forcing upgrades, which, exactly.” I wasn’t sure whether that meant he shared frustration over the company’s insistence, or if he thought the proposed improvements were sufficient to render it a non-issue; but I got the sense that it was an 11th hour “make or break” demand by the company. Like, “Okay we gave you something but we’re gonna need an insurance policy.”

So it’s undeniable that this is a powerful motivator & a huge bargaining chip that was pushing the company to get a deal. Did we get fair value for it, or could we have smoked the company out? It’s as much a matter of opinion as whether we could get a better offer by voting no, or what the 10-year impact of this decision are actually going to be.