Originally Posted by gloopy

But the fences at DL are only 5 years in duration and only cover what, 30-40 out of 700+ planes? I just don't see it harming that many efficiencies. I'm not a big fan of the fence either, given that the two fleet types effected by it pay the same and are about the same size but that was the agreement and its no factor in a few years anyway.

In a DL/AS merger, I would think that a much larger and more restrictive fence would be a part of it because it would either be that or quantify the disparity in equiptment and then take it out of the ratio, which the AS guys would call a DL windfall. If it was just pure DOH or ratio, the DL guys would call that an AS windfall. In either case, both would be right to a significant degree, which is why I predict there would be a substantial fence. Not a 20 year one, but all widebodies (which is a LOT of metal) for probably around 10 years or so. But of course it would all come down to the agreement.

Longevity pay has a lot of benefits, but one key reason it is not likely to happen is the initial pain and massive training tsunami initially. I think a more reasonable 3-4 tier system is better, sort of like CAL has (had). Make that 4-5 once we bring the 70 seaters back in house.