SWA/Airtran pilot integration thoughts, what will the new list look like?

[Lear70]

PCL, the no dowline draft into a day off sounds nice, but if you are JA'd into a day off at SWA it pays double time.

Double pay sounds nice, but I *ALWAYS* want the ability to politely decline it. I plan my life for certain events and I certainly don't mind helping out if I have nothing going on, but if I do and it's important, and I held it off in my bid,,, no, thanks. THAT'S what's nice about being able to refuse a downline draft or a reassignment that takes you out of the footprint of your original pairing.

General, If the US/AW was the other way around and it was AW that was almost shut down, the AW guys would not have been given a relative seniority integration as high as it was.

Moderator hat on:

Guys, we are not going to debate USAir/AWA on this thread. I understand you're quoting it for historical past precedent purposes, and that's fine, but let's not get into a "what-if" and the supporting arguments behind Nicalau. There's USAir/AWA threads for that or you can start a separate thread titled "how Nicalau applies to the AAI/SWA integration".

Trying to keep this thread clear of the non-AAI/SWA pilots who are still irritated about Nicalau and will start debating it in this thread if left unchecked. As I've said before, I understand it's very near and dear to their hearts, but it's gone on for years with the possibility of lasting years more, and it has to stay compartmentalized for the good of the FI community.

/mod

Neither AirTran nor Southwest are a company in trouble. As has been said, the most applicable example for past precedent is NWA/DAL: two healthy companies growing independently that decide, for strategic purposes, to merge. There's always an "acquiring carrier", and about 50% of the cash being handed out for the deal is immediately recaptured by the cash we have on hand. It's a sweetheart deal for management, that's for certain.

 

[K-Mart]

It is not an equivalent to NWA/DAL in terms of employee merger. Not even close.

 

[Dan Roman]

disregard

 

[Steeler Fan]

Go steelers!

 

[727C47]

Go Giants,Go Jets !!!! Wait till next year... Mets !!! Wait another few years....Islanders !!! that about covers it...

 

[Lear70]

It is not an equivalent to NWA/DAL in terms of employee merger. Not even close.

Opinions vary.

Not overly concerned at the moment, way too far out to worry about and we need to finish up our contract talks first. No one has forgotten about that, and we're still placing that at the top of our priority list as a pilot group.

The rest we'll worry about in the Spring after the ink is dry and we're officially part of the Southwest team. Enjoy your Fall, GO COWBOYS!!

 

[yoyoma]

SWA is the buying carrier and that does have history of judges awarding more favorable SLIs- it's not our contract that's necessarily important but the fact that the company we work for bought you-
Like I said- My opinion: it'll be a relative integration favoring WN bc we are the one forking over the cash-
My point however is that my "opinion" is pretty damn irrelevant and getting attached to it could seriously damage the culture - which is one of the best things about this...
So I ultimately conclude- who cares? We're all better off joining up so we should let a 3rd party decide so all 7700 of us can be mad at them and call it good.

I'm still wanting that 7700 pilot shot at 7:37)!) no matter how the sli goes down

you're an idiot! quit being so PC and fight for your seniority. seniority is your everything. sure lets let everyone at airtran pass us up to keep the "culture" intact. f that

 

[Lear70]

you're an idiot! quit being so PC and fight for your seniority. seniority is your everything. sure lets let everyone at airtran pass us up to keep the "culture" intact. f that

Quoted for posterity's sake...

Like any airline, there's the militant fringe on one side, the sheep on the other side, and the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle.

"Don't drive angry".

 

[waveflyer]

you're an idiot! quit being so PC and fight for your seniority. seniority is your everything. sure lets let everyone at airtran pass us up to keep the "culture" intact. f that

Sound like someone who's never been through a merger--

So- tough guy- you beating your chest accomplishes what?
And how exactly does one "fight" for their seniority? And I'm the idiot??

Ok look merger rookie- I never said let all of air tran leapfrog all of us and I never said don't have an opinion. Call your rep- let your opinion be known- and let the negotiators do their job- and let it go to arbitration if that's in the cards-

What I'm saying is that I know airlines- and our culture is one of the primary things that makes us profitable - it's not all feel good vibes- it translates into cash and you don't wantthe dead weight of extra employees bc of malcontent that can be conceived in a merger. I've been there twice and my father 3 times- you do NOT want that, no matter how much it offends your manhood to lay aside the testosterone and keep things in perspective.

There's what's in your control and what isn't- and wisdom to know the difference

This merger will be what we make it and we all have a vested interest in making sure it goes well

 

[WildcatFan]

If you think this is going to go well you are smokin crack. SWA guys are pissed, and will take this to an arbitrator, count on it. If the AT guys arent happy with huge pay raises, the best work rules and the best job security in the industry well then I dont care. THEY are the ones who should fear the arbitrator, there isnt one advantage in their column when it comes to the total value of a career.

Look at it this way - how many AT guys would cancel this deal versus how many SWA guys? The answer is telling.