FtB;
I do not think anyone, ALPA, DALPA, DAL Management thought that the decline in the margins was a lasting thing. No one could have predicted 9-11 a few months after inking C2K, no one could predict that SWA would have won the lotto on fuel hedging when the rest of us were up to our eyeballs in debt and could not hedge, no one could have predicted that their hedging would have lasted until 2009, which allowed them to keep their wages up, and prices down. A lucky business decision that will probably never happen again allowed them to look a lot better than they really are. The legacies miscalculation of this caused many to mortgage their companies to weather what many thought was a passing storm and guessing wrong.

It is a compiling of issues, add it it internet ticketing and it is no wonder that many went in to CH 11 slashed contracts, and shed debt. SWA which mind you caused much of the prolonged suffering by a great hedge (good business decision) put the final nail in the legacies coffin. As much as we do not want to admit it, CH 11 reset that, and SWA exasperated it.

You points could be argued as valid after this section six cycle if we accept less, or ALPA does not go for more than the beloved SWA rates and tries to sell you on it. Making this case prior to a section six or an interim agreement that is inked in a profitable time is nonsense.

You are a pragmatic guy, I know you are, I understand the frustration. I too want our rates and work rules to blow those little orange jets out of the water, and I suspect they will. Making darn near a billion dollars in a quarter shows us it is possible. Keeping the P/L in the black reaffirms our charge.