The majors don't want wholly owned regionals...they don't care about mega regionals as long as there are more than one, so they can compete against each other.
I agree with the OP in that bigger is the future of the regional industry...it has been the case in so many other industries.
There's no reason that the SKW/ASA/XJT groups should not be talking. In fact, I'm prett sure ASA/XJT already are
I would think that long term it would be inevitable that multiple pilot groups under a large umbrella would merge lists...there might be a few exceptions (ie gojet).
The SKW situation is unique...
The SKW voted by a large margin to stay out of alpa. A lot of this had to do with alpa itself...I'm convinced we would have voted yes to an in-house union if someone had been able to organize and market such an entity.
SKW presents a strong anti-union position to ALL of it's employees, not just pilots. They have more of an incentive than just the pilots to stick to their guns on that. For this reason I think it unlikely, although not impossible, that JA would make a deal which would force-integrate the SKW group.
There is no legal provision, and likely no practical means, of merging alpa and non-union groups, while keeping SKW non-union. I mentioned before that it might be possible to develop a "virtual combined list" based on the SKW list and the ASA/XJT list. The seperate lists would be used for internal moves (upgrade/transfer within same company), while the virtual list would be used for transitions between companies.
But there's a problem...SKW Inc might not want a virtual list, and the SKW group can't do it without management's OK.
Also, the virtual list does not legally bind the whole group to collective bargaining...there is still some possibility of whipsaw.
Long-term I think a combined SKW/XJT will be one list, under alpa. Assuming that a deal goes through which requires a forced integration, this is the fair way to do it...
- I would probably vote for DOH, with fences. Anything else is too complicated and subjective. The fences will preserve people's original upgrade expectations.
- Any XJT reductions (ie branded) happen pre-integration. XJT furloughs get stapled below all working pilots.
- Any equipment transfers between cetificates occur AFTER integration, and the people who are currently in those domiciles get first dibs, even if a certificate transfer is required.
- Appropriate fences go up to preserve the original upgrade opportunity within the original domiciles.
- Good News: Congress just passed law which requires fair integration (Alleghany-Mohawk) of any merged airline groups. This was in response to the AA/TWA catastrophe (7 years too late of course). This law applies regardless of union status, so nobody is likely to get scewed.
One more thing: SAPA FOLKS! If you're reading this, I suspect that you have no inclination or interest in merging lists or even discussing it. BETTER GET REAL! If you actually feel that your role in SAPA is to support the pilot group (as opposed to jockeying for Mngt. positions) then you really need to be building relationships and opening dialogue with ASA and XJT reps. It will not be fun to go into a forced-integration after ASA and XJT have aleady worked out THEIR deal
