Originally Posted by Nick Bradshaw

Look, anyone who has been paying attention over the last 6-8 months we've been beating this proposed rule change to death, it's been pretty obvious based on everything they've said that the proponents don't plan to actually work it. They just want the money. They hope to stay on or go out on LTD, sit at home with pay and never turn a wheel, use sick time and throw a wrench in their downgrade training to drag it out, etc. Of course our management and every other airline's management realizes this, but they aren't going to kick the hornets nest by taking a side. Instead, they've got their lobbyists quietly fighting it and throwing lots o' cash around. And of course, the politicians will vote with whoever pays them more. That's not going to be a bunch of white sneaker guys with a phone holster and a facebook page.

The Canada thing isn't apples to apples. It's a penalty for doing something illegal, and there's ways around it if a pilot gets a good lawyer to fix it. It also only effects a handful of pilots. This is a much bigger factor that will effect thousands of pilots, and will certainly require address. Maybe the union, which has shown no desire to support it, flexes their young majority and lets the company put them on unpaid LOA. But the obvious compromise is a deal that puts them on UNA at 50% 717B pay. Remember when those same guys told the 2558 they didn't deserve UNA pay and should just take a furlough? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

What isn't going to happen is ICAO going along with it at the last minute and letting them keep their seats, or the company accommodating them by sitting at home with full pay, or worse, nuking the training department with a bump/flush.

The proponents of this are kidding themselves if they actually think this will be a windfall as they've been hoping. There is no way in the world they will get paid a million dollars over 2 years to never turn a wheel, or be allowed to displace thousands of pilots to go fly domestic NB for 2 more years.