shiznit- USAPA is working out quite nicely given the circumstances. Furthermore, if there were to be another merger in the future, because of the McCaskill-Bond provision, the USAirways pilots are in a much better position with USAPA. Again, if the company wants to merge any time in the near future, the East pilots will have to be made whole, one way or another. Of course, Mr. Parker has not shown any indication that he understands this fact any more than the West pilots have. Which is why I have little hope, in today’s environment that USAirways will survive. Mr. Parker could have brought the East pilots to parity with the West from the beginning. The West would not have been so overconfident that the East would capitulate and the East would not have had so much at stake. Mr. Parker was never insightful enough to be proactive and true to form, pilots behaved in their usual cannibalistic manner.
Reroute- the Nic will never see the light of day- the airline will go bankrupt first. As long as there is this much pilot-pilot rancor, investors will see it for the civil war, poison that it is.

The west was not obligated to do one d*mn thing (as was the east) other than haul their *sses to court and present their case.

All this "made whole" and "capitulating" talk is pure B.S.

It is an understatement that the East was WAY to overconfident about what the outcome would be going into all of this and it has remained that way ever since the rulings started getting dropped.

The fact remains that the East keeps losing their case and all they keep screaming for it "DO OVER!, THAT ONE DIDN"T COUNT".

Trust me I feel for the east...I think they've had a raw deal since the day they set foot on the property.

But they made their bed...ALPA or USAPA...doesn't matter who was running the show, their leadership has failed them for quite some time.

Perhaps it's time to unite and actually start winning some battles against management (tall order, I know).

It's natural to "want it all", but the easties haven't "got it all" for quite sometime...it's not like the screwing started when the merger came along.

Perhaps the best move for Parker IS to take the company to Chapter 11 BK court. THEN, argue that is was the intransagence of the east pilots and USAPA that put them there and request the nic award be part of the reorganization and move forward.

Again, if I were Parker at this point, I'd be taking no prisoners to move this company to where it has to be and whomever wants to quit in the aftermath, so be it.

If he had any stones, he'd be fed up with this hostage garbage and bust a move.

For what it's worth, I would expect a joint contract this winter, negotiated under the threat of an 1113 hearing. Unfortunately, the USAPA mulligan quest has prevented Doug Parker from capturing any significant merger synergies, and has put USAirway's survival at risk.

CVG76, I agree completely. Many people for some reason ignore the elephant in the room- USAir is going bankrupt. The only question is whether it happens before or after UAL files. Nicolau will be activated during one of the bankruptcy hearings some time in the Spring. It is a shame the east pilots threw away so much money chasing a phantom dream.

Jack-
You seem to underestimate the power of a federal judge.
He can place the whole USAPA under "trusteeship". Its been done to much larger unions. (federal judges pretty much ran the entire Teamsters union in the 1980s)
He can remove the union leadership. He can appoint "cactiboss" as the trustee if he wants.
He can find individuals in contempt. He can impose fines and jail time.
His power is nearly limitless.
If a federal judge can order US Army troops to remove the governor of a state from the doorway of a schoolhouse and integrate that school at the point of a gun, then I think a federal judge can handle the USAPA.

You will be in great peril if you think you can defy a federal court order.

LCC may not be around if the need for BK arises.... The current BK laws make it much more difficult for them to enter into BK, especially in todays economic enviroment. Who would provide DIP financing?

It could be the same as the first one, a wall street arranged marriage of convience by the banks trying to protect their investments. Add UAL to th emix this time

Maybe, but I don't see anyone willing and able to line up with the $$ required. Even GE, Boeing, etc don't have the capital to spare right now.

How about a "formation bankruptcy" where they both go in together and merge during and fly out the other side as one ?

Just thinking out loud.........boy what a trip that'd be.

At any rate, if either one of these companies does go into BK, each could expect to lose about 1/3 of their pilot jobs at a minimum. Barring a dramitic improvement in the economy over the next 12 months, my bet says there's going to be a lot more pilots on the street looking for work next summer.