The simple fact of the entire FAPA/SWA discussion is that FAPA felt SWA wanted the airline badly. They felt that in the end SWA would drop the clause requiring a pilot agreement from the purchase offer and would be the winning bidder. FAPA would then have access to binding arbitration under the new federal law. It was a gamble that back fired. If they looked at the Delta/NWA merger in which management at Delta made a similiar promise to the pilots and then stiffed them they may have felt that the outcome they hoped for was logical.
FAPA knows that the reality of the pilots at Frontier enjoying the same quality of life and pay at RAH verses SWA even with a staple at SWA is virtually nil. They gambled and it did not work out. Now its about spin.