Any thoughts if the slot swap will require any new bodies on property?

I don't know.... Having a union is not doing Air Tran pilots much good right now.

Some might argue that having a union isn't doing the Southwest pilots much good right now either. Now, having a supportive management is doing the Southwest pilots a whole lot of good.

Exactly. Imagine if before the corporate transaction took place, AirTran had a management and Board of Directors that cared about their employees and said "no deal will take place without a fair integration of the SLI." And the model you will use is already written in federal law, Mac/Bond. Imagine if AirTran had fought for their group the way SWA has for their pilots. The point is management dictating the terms of an SLI, kinda negates the purpose of the union. Just a thought.

nevermind.....

Personally, I think the verdict is still out on this one, even though I agree with you that it may not look very promising for Airtran guys.

I'm interested to see how this plays out from the standpoint of having two majors carriers integrating with an in-house union and big, powerful ALPA.

Depending on how it pans out, it may or may not be a major selling point for ALPA going into the future.

You cannot blame ALPA for what's going on over there. SWAPA is just a champagne drinking, cigar smoking, laughing all the way to the seniority stolen bank beneficiary of heavy handed management. Unless AT calls the bluff, (which isn't likely)and is prepared to take SWA to court over this, SWAPA wins.. but it is not because THEY are inherently more powerful than ALPA

Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but the important point is, if this deal goes through the precedence has been set, management can dictate the terms of an SLI, effectively negating a CBA's merger policy. From a management perspective I think SWA is brilliant. They may have avoided a long SLI arbitration/litigation battle (AW/USAir) scenario. Great for SWA pilots, not so great for AirTran pilots. Most folks would wish to have SWA management negotiating on their behalf. The unions in this case have essentially been on the sidelines while SWA management runs the plays. Someone earlier said a CBA gives you a seat at the table, my point is AirTran ALPA wasn't even invited to dinner (unless I am missing something).

To get back on topic - SWA will most likely gain LGA slots from the US/DL slot swap for a greater presence in New York.

All your points are operational concerns. And while completely valid, the BOD cares not one bit about operations. How much money could be made from a merger - that is their point of view. Running a good airline? Irrelevant to the 1%.

My point is that JetBlue is a very successful company. It will most likely take two management partners for a dance. There are many here who are convinced JetBlue is "In-Play", my point is that in play will most likely be a hostile takeover, which is tougher than most think.