"On our side of the partition, that's just too big of leap to make right now"
I understand...but lay the blame where it belongs...mgmt and AAI MEC...If your grievance is successful, SWA pilots may end up paying for it...
That's not an ENTIRELY accurate portrayal of the situation.
IF, and that's a big IF an arbitrator helps return our CA seat protections that were negotiated for, albeit on the 737, they WOULD come at the expense of your pilots not upgrading into those slots, but be honest, we all know those ADDITIONAL slots weren't there for your pilots before the announcement of the 717 assignment to Delta.
In fact, your very own Steve Chase gloated about "Capturing more Captain seats" because of it.
If you'll recall, the Classics were going away and you were getting our -700 delivery slots, upgraded to -800 delivery slots in addition to the deliveries you already had, plus the CA seats on the 737's we were bringing with us. That was going to net you approximately 300 additional CA seats above and beyond the pre-AAI purchase announcement delivery schedule from that point until 1/1/15. Your senior F/O's will upgrade MUCH sooner than planned into OUR 737's we're bringing with us, and those were the ONLY Captain seats you were supposed to get.
With the 717 announcement, SWA decided not to retire the Classics and only deferred a small number of new deliveries, bringing the total hulls on property by 1/1/15 UP to account for our pilots coming over. However, since they are all coming over as F/O's, you will now upgrade an additional 350-400 CA's by 1/1/15 than you were SUPPOSED to with the agreed SIA by virtue of the Classics not going away PLUS new deliveries PLUS our 737's.
That's an additional 350-400 CA seats you weren't supposed to get with this deal.
In other words, the departure of the 717 robbed OUR CA's of their seat (albeit on the 717) and gave YOUR F/O's even MORE upgrades you weren't expecting when you signed the deal. That's why Steve Chase wanted it all done by 1/1/15 so you could "capture" those additional CA seats that weren't previously included in the deal.
An arbitrator returning those CA seats to us would simply return the playing field back to where it was when the deal was inked, netting you the increase in CA seats you were expecting when you voted in SL10 and retaining the CA seats WE negotiated when we voted in the SIA.
So yes, it "technically" would come at the expense of SWA pilots upgrading, but only those who weren't supposed to upgrade with this deal to begin with. Fair is fair, you keep your CA seats you were expecting to get when the SIA was signed, we keep ours we were expecting to keep.