Wow, alot of SWA haters here. Lots of posts here talk about how no one at airtrain will lose their "seat" with this acquisition and also numerous posts about the only relevant thing is "career expectations".
I seem to recall that just a few short months before the acquisition was announced (May 2010) 98 percent of airtrain pilots weren't so happy about their career expectations and were willing to risk everything including their jobs and the bankruptcy of their company. 96 percent of airtran pilots participated in the vote. Seems nearly unanimous - highly unusual in any voting. Things must've been pretty bad there to prompt such a unanimous and dire response.
AirTran pilots give union leaders power to call a strike AirTran pilots step closer to strike - eTurboNews.com
May 18, 2010 AirTran Holdings Inc. pilots voted to give union leaders the power to call a strike, a first step toward a walkout after more than five years of contract talks at the low-fare airline.
The move won approval from 98 percent of pilots who cast ballots, AirTran’s chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement today. The group represents about 1,700 pilots at Orlando, Florida-based AirTran.
“This vote serves notice to AirTran management that we are united and resolved to get an industry-standard contract now,” Linden Hillman, chairman of the union at AirTran, said in the statement.
I don't recall airtran management conceding anything with the airtran pilots after this announcement either.
Seems pretty relevant to this discussion about "career expectations".