Some of you guys are confusing the issue. No one is talking about a 3-way merger. One pilot list is not a "3-Way merger." Even if the list integration wins in court, I'm sure SKW Inc will dangle some kind of carrot (no furlough clause, promised growth, new crew bases/fleet types, etc...) to entice ASA/XJT to drop the scope issue. As many have pointed out, the (alleged) inevitability of SKW getting a union under the new rules would render nearly moot all of SKW Inc's union busting...their fight against one list may be nothing more than trying leverage concessions from the ASA/XJT MEC's, I doubt it's truly a deal-breaker. If they win in court, they'll pat themselves on the back. If they lose, I doubt they're going to want to lose their position as first to the "Super Regional" party simply because their pilots are on one list. It would make no strategic sense. The sheer size of the new company somewhat mitigates the need to whipsaw because of economies of scale...but they're not going to give up their ability to whipsaw without putting up a little bit of a fight. How much fight is anyone's guess.

Whether one list or two, there will be separate SKW and ASA airlines, like RAH.

One thing no one on either side has mentioned....isn't it possible for a final court decision to happen AFTER the transaction is completed in December? Then your "blowing the deal because you fought for scope" scenario goes out the window. Any decent lawyer should be able to drag this out so the merger is completed regardless.