That and the 5 year furlough for the Uhires.

 

Actually not...

Imagine this, the arbitrators decide to staple all the Uhires and furloughees based on the CAL proposal. Then, UAL decides to furlough. You STILL get furloughed because you are on the bottom of the list.

Now consider that the decision to integrate the furloughees with active (UAL proposal based on longevity) is good with the arbitrators ONLY because they feel like the furlough out of seniority is a good trade-off.

Either way, those pilots are going to be furloughed first because either its 1) out of seniority, or 2) because they are at the bottom.

So absent a furlough (probably unlikely since retirements are growing every year) which scenario would you prefer if you are a LUAL furloughee? Might as well take the seniority now and be okay with furlough out of seniority, which is very unlikely.

This was probably a brilliant move.

 

I am not sure it was such a bad compromise either. CAL bottom feeders are probably safe from furlough. UAL's got some seniority. A little tit for tat.