Oh, believe me, I know. The East side is used to all forces the government, the company, and their own union working against them and predetermining their outcome for years and years. The problem is that they have not cooperated with said forces. I have a soft spot for that, regardless of affiliation.

I've never been one to tow the line; rather I choose to treat others the way I want to be treated, think of the greater good before myself, and try to help others less fortunate than myself.

I know that doesn't fare so well with union politics, keyboard know it alls, and those who actually think that the SLI between USAir east and west was just. So be it. Look no further than SWA, USAir East and West, jBlue, spirit to see where our profession is headed. It's been happening for quite some time, and will continue to degrade. Entropy doesn't play well for our side of the fence. USAir East has nowhere to go but up. Even our beloved union president may have finally figured that out by supporting the latest merger effort. Since the East hasn't gone away, and since the West never has nor ever will do anything but hang on the bar, maybe we ought to lend a hand instead of whispering behind closed doors for their demise to make things better. The former will help all, and the East just doesn't seem to want to cooperate with the latter.

Binding arbitration...

What part about that is so difficult to comprehend?

I'd say there is a good chance we would be.

People only focus on what happened with USAPA and they forget that we had the ability to stall the Nic without forming USAPA. I firmly believe that would have happened and would have lasted well into the recession, at which time the company had it's rear in a crack with auction rate securities and fuel hedges. Then, what incentive would there have been to get a contract?

If we did have a contract, I believe it would only be marginally better than what we have and worse in some areas. With a severely divided pilot group do you think Parker would give us anything better?

Let's look at another angle. What if west had handled it differently. What if they said "We won't agree to reorder the Nic, but realize that with the TA we are in a tough spot, so we will look at any and all other solutions. We will stand up for our rights, but will work with the east on all other areas." Could things have been different? What if they hadn't gotten the company involved, wanting big damages?

I think we all screwed up.

You seem to be the one with a comprehension problem. How binding has it been so far?

Do you really know what is happening here? Have you actually read our transition agreement and understand what that means?

One more thing Denny. Our flight attendants didn't have a seniority fight. They just got a contract this summer and then only after the company threatened to leave them out of the AA merger talks and the NMB threatened to park them and said they would not release them.

Is that the whole truth on the FA contract delay? You guys didn't only hurt you selfs but held the fa's hostage as well. Did the fa's settle for th company's first comprehensive offer or did they get something very close to industry standart?

Yup, my post was spot on.

Nuff said

We had nothing to do with their contract. They settled, under the gun, for an inferior contract.

Did you catch Parker's comment about the F/As rejecting their 2nd TA? An analyst asked him how much they would have to sweeten the pot to get a contract passed. He said that rejecting a TA didn't get you a better deal, just gave you more time to think about it. With the NMB saying they won't release labor and will instead park them, what incentive does management have to do a better deal?

Oh and don't forget cacti, in addition to costing US pilots and F/A gazillions of dollars, the east also cause global warming and trips Nuns in crosswalks.

Oh goody, another *****y east/west thread.

Sorry. We had it corralled to one thread but old cacti wasn't having enough luck edumacating the masses and had to start two new ones.