No one went into that deal with any misconceptions that we had for sure saved the company. We took a shot and it didn't work. What we did have was a greater degree of control over our fate. Rather than accept the scheduling cramdown that happened at US Air, United, and to a lesser extent Northwest, we had the time to create an entirely new system that provided efficiencies close to Southwest while also maintaining a lifestyle that had you home more days a month than working, even for narrow body pilots. I know reserve isn't commutable but Delta was never a commuter airline so the system was designed for the vast majority of pilots that lived in base. We also took a stab at freezing the pension to retain earned benefits, but that didn't work either.

At the time we said "this deal sucks but bankruptcy will be worse." It was worse.