Originally Posted by
odog1121
Everyone knew the intent of the letter when they didn't sign. Now people that wants to renege on their commitement is picking the letter apart word by word to exploit it's weaknesses while knowing it's original intent. It's selfish but I guess I probably would do the samething in their position. Weasel move
Sadly, in today's labor arbitration, "intent" of the agreement has nothing to do with the outcome of arbitrations. Something else does. It's all mumbo-jumbo, parsing, and torturing verbiage to get the desired outcome by the arbitrator.
Witness the APA 7300 pilot floor for continued operation of Eagle. The arbitrator ruled that, in fact, AA could furlough every single AA pilot yet never trigger the minimum 7300 AA pilot floor that allows AE to continue operation. His decision invalidated the very reason for the agreement in the first place. That arbitration decision shocked even management in it's bizarreness.
I wish AE ALPA good luck with their upcoming negotiations. If the ongoing brickwall stall with AMR regarding the TWU, AA FA's, and the APA contracts are any indicator, they're going to offer AE a Mesa contract and emphasize the need to be competitive with the dregs of the industry. Of course, with the 50 seat RJs being economically crippled in the next few years, it's hard to figure out what AMR might try and do.