"Thank you for forwarding David Braid's PowerPoint rant. Perhaps I'm stating the obvious here, but don't you think he's really made a fantastic case against the Nicolau "Award?" Page after page, David details the Company's common sense strategy of staffing and caring for the East route network, while cutting and curtailing the financially-draining West flying. It's a business, right? Never before have we had an opportunity to see if an arbitrator's hunch about an airline's future was accurate. In our case, he certainly got it wrong.

One thing David Braid leaves out of the conversation, of course, is the fact that they would all be enjoying the fantastic upward movement that our newhires are today if they had only accepted our standing offer of DOH with significant Conditions and Restrictions, each one designed to afford them protection from East migration into Phoenix. As we all know, there are a handful of West pilots who are responsible for keeping their group whipped up in an angry frenzy all these years. Someone should sit these pilots down and ask them "How does your date of hire look now?"

The decorated Army of Leonidas has much to explain to their troops. Because of their myopic focus on securing Nicolau's very obviously flawed "award," they have let time march on to the point where their careers would have really started moving forward, but they're not on the list to enjoy it! Never have I seen a better illustration of ego being the downfall of man. These guys have done it to themselves. They voluntarily sequestered themselves in the Phoenix domicile, waiting for the Company or the courts to wave a wand and make their airline dreams come true.

And lastly, it's almost comical how David Braid complains about the company's actions, trying to paint a picture of East favoritism. Seriously? What world has he been living in? When I was on the Board, at BPR meetings David Braid was most often typing fiercely on his laptop, apparently in his own world. Now, we all have a glimpse into that little world, and it's a special place, one where the company hasn't repeatedly sued USAPA and appealed everything USAPA has won and pretty much done everything in their power to help the decorated Army of Leonidas achieve their goals. This company has been anything but neutral in the seniority dispute, and their actions have overwhelmingly favored the West. What more did he want or expect? Perhaps he wanted Doug Parker to change the entire economy of Phoenix, AZ and Las Vegas, NV, and magically turn them into the aviation powerhouses America West pilots always believed them to be.

By answering the question "How does your date of hire look now?" West pilots can begin to understand how their myopic focus on stapling East pilots (who were -- yes -- serving some time on furlough during the last decade) has harmed them. And a point that often gets lost here is this: America West pilots would have advanced rapidly with or without their Nicolau "award"....either way, they would have owned the airline in the end. But that wasn't good enough. They apparently thought it proper that they all be Captains the entire time, crushing the careers of older pilots hired many years before them. So, today we see the proof. Had they not voluntarily sequestered themselves in Phoenix, they too would be advancing and flying to new places and flying wide bodies....all sorts of options beyond their wildest dreams when they started at America West Airlines. Instead, those things are happening for newly hired US Airways pilots flying in the East, because market forces dictate it. Pure economics are driving this, and I wonder if it's hit any of them that wage disparity isn't in play now either. It's the East flying that takes precedence, and America West pilots have had every opportunity to come to the table and negotiate their way onto our seniority list. They have repeatedly chosen not to do so.

Thanks again for sharing David Braid's presentation. I wonder if he regrets making our case for us.

MG"