Granted, I only have a tenth of the experience that a lot of you have, but from what I’ve observed so far it appears that new contracts drive new behavior by the company. A lot of good things which is why a new contract was fought for, but also some unintended consequences as the company looks for more efficiency (money-making opportunities) and as long as the company is acting within the confines of the contract, they pretty much don’t care about Pilot QoL, or at the very best it ranks very low on their list of priorities.

I just started Year 3 pay and in the past 2 years I have seem our lines change a lot. When I first arrived, the framework of good ol’ SWA lines was still there, but they started changing quickly and have definitely mutated into what we have today. I also will not be surprised once red-eyes evolve into something most of us don’t like. My personal belief is REs started lucrative and attractive so the company could have good buy in from the pilot group while they tested the waters. Now that we’re entrenched and they are proving to be successful, be prepared for REs to evolve into something much different and I don’t think the majority of us are going to like it.

Bottom line is the company will do whatever is in their best interest, especially with Elliott breathing down their neck, and we will feel the consequences. Next contract negotiating cycle comes and we’ll fight for positive changes, new contract comes out, and the cycle starts all over again.

Classic cat and mouse.