Are you talking about the 15 Freedom birds that were going to Comair that eventually went to ASA and Mesaba after they skipped right over Pinnacle?
Uhh no. A little farther back. After NWA awarded XJ with 15 200s (only 2 were delivered), a nice long ASA (which was soon routed), and guarantees for the next CRJ options exercised, NWA soon went into BK. In their (NWA) wisdom, 9E remained to get paid while XJ was not. This forced XJ into BK. During this time frame, 9E missed a deadline (for a pilot contract) that allowed NWA to remove aircraft under their ASA. NWA exercised this provision, and 15 200s were transferred from 9E to XJ. This took XJ to 16 200s, because Compass ended up flying 1 of the 2 delivered 200s for awhile, it was eventually returned, taking XJ to 17 200s. Later, two 200s were transferred from Comair, which took us to the 19 we know now.
With the above, mixed with 5 Avros being pulled/replaced 2 times before finally being pulled, and CWA, CVG, RHI base closures, XJ has had many ups and downs. This has weathered our MEC, and made them a more effective and prepared group of people, which was evident in the JCBA/SLI negotiations and resultant contract/ISL. It has also calloused the senior pilot group to dismiss the effects of aircraft loss/movement, long reserve times and downgrades, we've all seen them ourselves. 9E pilots, up until now, have NEVER dealt with these types of issues. This is what has started these heated debates on who has been screwed in this integration. XJ placed provisions in our old contract which protected positions in seniority order based on experience, now these provisions (which made it into the JCBA) are in question by those that have never needed them...until now.
This ride is not over, but we need to come together to help this company and ourselves to move through this. Pointing fingers, and blaming is only going to make it harder to bear, it is not going to stop it from happening. We will all have pre merger guy flying others aircraft in a few weeks, chose how your going to deal with it, but you WILL have to deal with it regardless.