I seem to remember the interest rate being 2%. That's why the union wants everyone to roll to somewhere, anywhere.

Mines done. Wasn't difficult. It's a shame, someone will procrastinate.

You think Dougie wants another acquisition? They'll be formidable eventually, but are still trying to digest their existing merger. Just look at SWA/Airtran or UAL/Continental to see how long it can take. Don't think we should underestimate American, but I'd be really surprised to see them try to merge with Alaska, nor would I think the guvmint would let it happen easily or cheaply.

Probably. But that is their problem, and in no way shape or form, ours. There will reach a point where the regionals will default due to lack of staff. It's like losing weight. More calories out, fewer in, you lose weight. The regionals are already pretty thin, and at some point they will die due to lack of nutrition. Then we have leverage to bring that flying back in house. That is exactly why I am not interested in negotiating for any of that in C15. If I could figure out a way to buy insurance on the regionals like a credit default swap, I would, because it is inevitable that at least some of them fail.

"We" don't buy airplanes. Management does. Their problem. All we do is determine the cost of our services to fly them. Outsourcing will unravel itself. Just keep watching and enjoy the show.

Given what is coming at Pinnacle, that will be another failure to be able to staff that airline... despite a guaranteed job at DL. It is definitely unraveling, but we need to help. The pendulum will swing the other direction eventually, and things need to be shored up while the cost to do so is cheap.

OK, I'll play, what can we do to help?

Sorry, responded before the edit... I definitely don't agree. The time has come and gone where any significant number of pilots will go deeply into debt for a $20k/year job. I think all we need to do is sit back and wait for the company's panic to fix the problem. Then we have leverage. Lots and lots of leverage.

We should be contractually putting sunsets on the outsourcing agreements.... i.e. as each ASA comes up for renewal, it can no longer be renewed. That is one of the most logical examples.

We're speaking past each other... The company will end up in a bad place and we need to be ready to take advantage of that and finally shove the camel out of the tent.

I guess that's OK, but I don't want to pay anything for it.

That's quite short sighted. Why not shore something up when it is extremely cheap vs paying full price? If we don't take care of it now, the pendulum will swing back again the other direction and bite us again.