Maybe the fault lies with that "other pilot group". The fact that they were in section 6 negotiations is exactly why it was done then. It should of been a part of their section 6 negotiations. Now we are fighting for the scraps..... How would you have done it differently???
At that time (9/11 and the down turn was not on the horizon), I wanted us to create a strongly worded flowthru that protected both US and DALPA.. Sure, the most junior ASA pilots (most of whom were being hired with 1000TT or less) would be left somewhat unprotected, but in the end, that makes more sense than leaving a 4000+ hour DAL pilot unprotected, if we're infact to act like "one pilot group" The objections about flow-back were a major sticking point, and ironically DAL was placing their furloughed pilots into ASA anyway..
Today, a large number of pilots at CAL are being hired thru their flow-thru which in all reality is a poorly worded one. We on the other hand could have had a system when pay was protected, and upward movement into the mainline introduced.
If we had engineered a flowthru that protected the senior pilots at ASA, and the junior one's at DAL, it would have been a win/win for both groups, and would have been a major step in the right direction, towards ONEALPA.
However, the MEC in their infinite wisdom wanted to SLAM us onto their seniority list, some were even talking about a 3-1 ratio.. so then you had a E-120 Captain displacing a 757 captain, and E-120 FO's displacing 737 FO's which was science fiction.
What was accomplished is that we made permanent enemies of DALPA, ALPA national, and soured ALPA to the regional pilots for a good while. Politics ala GW Bush style, in your face, and with little room for reasonableness.
History has since made much of this moot, as DAL spun off ASA and probably never would have allowed the full integration of the companies as they probably always wanted to keep that option on the table, so the flowthru would have been the only option, or nothing at all. Since there are DAL pilots on the street now, it's safe to assume that some of those would have been former ASA pilots who were very junior, and that those who took the flowthru would be back at ASA.
The whole thing just shows how sad this profession and this industry have become however, when no option is a good option, and in the end the airline managers seem to be able to divide and manipulate pilot groups at will.
