Originally Posted by
Bwipilot
There are numerous pilots who left AAI (with several years of longevity) to start off at the bottom at SWA over the past ten years. That's because they desired a SWA pilot's career well more than maintaining their seniority at AAI. Those pilots will be directly affected if they're slotted below the pilots who were below them at AAI.
Other pilots at SWA made similar decisions to come to SWA over other places--myself included. I know I valued a job at SWA well more than a job at AAI (as well as two majors I was hired at) ten years ago and still do today. Hence, I'd be dismayed to see someone who took a job with AAI 10 years ago be slotted ahead of me on a combined list.
It's too bad that we can't go back a year and ask people what position they'd be willing to take on the opposite list. I'd guess SWA pilots would have required a huge jump in seniority to take a job at AAI (and any SWA CA and most senior FOs would've turned down the transfer for any jump). I'd also surmise that most AAI pilots would've been willing to take a big loss in seniority to transfer to the SWA list.
Alas, we can't do that now. Still, anyone who thinks that relative seniority is reasonable seems irrational to me. It comes off as someone who wants to keep their cake and get to eat it too.
bwi,
Measuring your career expectations by how you compare to someone at another airline because of decisions you made will never work. This industry is filled with stories where people got screwed because of decisions they made. The arbitrator(s) can't account for individual situations to make things work out to be fair.
Without anything else on property besides 737's and 717's, if you are at 40% up the list at pre-SWA, life and your career expectations will probably be the same if you are 40% up the list when they are combined at post-SWA. That's all the arbitrators care about.
Look, I've been in your position. I've argued against relative seniority until my fingers were blue. Except, my argument was that at 40% I could move to this airplane-higher pay, and at 30% I could move to this bigger airplane-higher pay, and so on. The arbitrators were only moved to slightly alter the list because of higher retirements.
Your argument is, at 40% I can get this vacation and days off, at 30% I can get this vacation and days off. Give us an extra percent because Air Tran pilots will make a whole lot more money. It's just not going to fly.
Good luck though. Seriously, the best advice I can give you is not to take any of this personal. Just hang on for the ride.
New K Now