Originally Posted by Herkflyr

Has it ever occurred to you that what is best for the "collective new DAL" IS what's best for you and your pilot group (and mine)?

This merger is happening...period, end of story. Voting this Joint TA down would not be a good thing. Given the current crisis state of this industry it is a very good agreement and worthy of ratification. The quicker we get this thing done and move on as a combined kick-tail company the better.

Deliberately pursuing a strategy that would encourage a USAir-style mess seems bizarre to me.

I guess the ultimate question is: if we shoot this TA down, what is a superior Plan B? I don't think that there is one.

Originally Posted by DAL4EVER

There is no better Plan B. It's just the old mentality that's a time honored play back to the days when airlines were profitable and the union members "always voted down the first contract because they can do better". We are the only US legacies that haven't announced furloughs this fall. Perhaps they're waiting behind the curtain and will be announced after the DCC. However, every month that is delayed is another month that we junior guys collect a paycheck, are able to save, possibly get closer to coming out of this abyss, etc.

My survival plan is vote Yes. I don't see how anyone could think we could do better. I would rather have $7 billion cash in the bank than half that. I would rather have a completely diversified company than lack the Asian routes or vice versa if you're NWA. People need to look around them. The world is going into a recession right now. Europe is slowing down, China's market is off 50% for the year, India and Latin America are seeing signs of pressure. Odds are, one of these areas will help lead the recovery. If we're the biggest carrier in the world we can capitalize on that versus hinging our recovery to certain markets.

Bottom line: Voting No means a trip to door C. The two sides couldn't come to an agreement months ago which was a No vote and look where that got us. A worse agreement and that was when oil was $90/barrel. What makes anyone sure we can do better with oil at $145/barrel?