Actually, there was a little more to it than that. I don't have my notes in front of me, someone feel free to update this if I've forgotten some detail.
As some have mentioned, GoJets was formed as an end run around mainline & regional scope restrictions (and it worked). The Certificate had the exact same people, management, maintenance, etc... as Trans States. We are not just talking alter ego, we are talking the exact same.
So the TSA pilots watched this parallel seniority list pop up on their property, a list with zero longevity. ALPA did the right thing and fought for a single carrier petition. (It has been done elsewhere, refer to Republic Airlines where Chautauqua, Republic, MidAtlantic and Shuttle America operate with the same seniority list and it is probably as fair a system as can be run across multiple certificates, heck, even Freedom / Mesa got one list)
The GoJets pilots fought ALPA because obviously they would have to give up their instant seniority.
So they aren't scabs, but they fought for alter ego replacement of an established seniority list on the property. I guess the only difference is an active strike at the time of the replacement. That is a distinction without a whole lot of difference.
Teamsters aligned with management and the GoJets pilots to defeat ALPA. The TSA pilots have not had an easy time of it, since the NMB has sanctioned their replacement with pilots who have no longevity (cheaper).
There are several very bad precedents set here:
(1) The NMB ruled that scope clauses alone were sufficient to determine that an airline is not "operationally integrated" to a sufficient degree to enforce single carrier findings.
(2) The idea that pilots should be safe from being replaced by their own airline has been dealt a serious blow because nothing more than external contract language can be used to deny a single carrier petition.
GoJets harms our profession. These pilots are replacement workers. They have not earned the label "scab," but the distinction is only the fact that the affected pilots were not on strike when the replacement occurred.
Do GoJets pilots get hired elsewhere? Sure. Did Eastern and Continental scabs get hired elsewhere? Sure... and at some airlines who would be embarrassed to admit it. But none of us has to cheer for them....
Delta has hired some really good, deserving, folks and you have to focus on supporting & helping the good guys.
Sorry about the thread creep.
