Perfectly statedI don't get the second part. Both management and ALPA promoted and fought for a stand alone Delta. The numbers certainly supported this conclusion.

Then, that changed. It may have been the realization that the freight train was coming and the impact would be less severe if you were running in the same direction the train was going. But, I've never seen any numbers that remotely suggest the merger was good for Delta long term and only benefits the Delta pilots who are young enough to see NWA mostly go away by the time they hit their prime earning years.

Personally, this merger will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to $200,000 (less contractual gains and stock award) until the potential to earn it back in the last ten years. You state that model is fatally flawed by the fact that the 07 hires would not even have jobs without the merger. Who knows? The numbers we can prove are the NWA fleet utilization, pre and post merger load factors and aircraft retirements. In contrast, I don't know how we prove the merger kept people in jobs OTHER than the effectiveness of D-ALPA's negotiations to ensure we kept our jobs.

We will see just how right, or wrong, my prognostications are. I'm still thinking September furlough notices with December reflectivity. That's how we are running the household finances and if I'm wrong, 2011 sure is time to buy a new car I'll take you and Carl to lunch in it if you two promise to behave in the back seat.