The only issue I have with this is.....well, it's helping them out. They can't cover it? Tough. Allowing them to move it over to a different cert with a pilot group with extra pilots that can cover it, IMO, is opening the door to all kinds of abuse. Good thing Colgan doesn't operate CRJs, I guess. With a contract 5 years in the making and us on ice, we shouldn't be giving the company an inch. You know they wouldn't if the tables were turned.
Is their anything in the contract that would prevent this? I gave mine away years ago, but I don't think that there is. Nor do I see how preventing it gains anything for the pilot group.
The flying can't be done because you don't have enough pilots. That is a staffing decision, not a contractual one. How the company staffs is a "management's rights" issue. If they can't cover it with premium pay, what does making a plane sit and flight cancel gain the pilot group?
Nothing in the PWA requires the company to actually be good at running an airline.