I've been trying to get on the hub but I've been unable due to not receiving the registration email. I've emailed the web master about it but progress has been slow.

I think I read a post by Sniper saying that we should not blame ALPA for this decision and I have to agree with his logic because we voted in the representatives and the whole thing was a democratic process. However our NC and ALPA MEC that sent this TA to the pilots for ratification, i believe, sold us short.

What we needed was/is pilot group unification. This TA has just cleft the pilot group in two. ALPA, the NC and our MEC could have unified our pilot group by sending an agreement that they were SURE would been approved by 90%+ of our group. Yet they chose not to do that apparently because they did not have 'negotiating capitol'.

Perhaps the better strategy would have been to send out the first TA which IIRC was turned down by the MEC for ratification because it was too awful. That way the pilot group would be compelled to land slide a 'NO' vote, show unity and strength and then have the NC go back with some more 'negotiating capitol' i.e. the pilot group unification.

Anyway enough of the Monday morning quarter back for me. It is what it is. Now we have to make the best of it, unify the pilot group, work the contract to our best advantage and be very sure about the gains we need in 2010.

The new guys that voted yes will learn over the next couple of years if it was a mistake or not. I just hope they can learn from their mistakes. What was it that bush said:

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."