Prop,
Just going from bag room talk back then, I think at least 50% were in favor of the Airtran takeover. Those in favor seemed to fit a certain profile: junior, 717 drivers already used to 4 day schedules, and commuters. The MD-80 drivers were mostly locals (and more senior) because of the out-n-back schedule. They knew those sweet out-n-backs would go away with Airtran.

For reasons I still don't understand, our MEC stood behind Tim and his stand alone plan. I was an 80 driver/commuter that was in favor of the AAI takeover, mostly because I thought Hoeksema's business plan was obsolete. If our MEC knew this RAH deal was coming down the pike, they surely would have thought differently. TPG usually builds companies up and sells them for a profit, not tear the company apart and then sell it cheap for a write off.

But the bottom line is this: we could have been 100% in favor of the AAI deal and wouldn't have mattered.