The price to pay for getting the merger done with the speed, and in the manner, with which it ultimately occurred was giving AMR's creditors committee credible visibility into the airline's labor costs post-bankruptcy, and that necessitated agreeing to negotiating protocols (including binding arbitration) in advance. Could AA's unions have gotten a better deal had they not agreed to those protocols? Quite possibly. But that would have been far riskier than it appears today in hindsight, with the merger in the rear-view mirror - because absent those protocols, it is entirely possible if not probable the merger would not have taken place, or would have taken place later and - horror of all horrors! - with Tom Horton at the helm of the combined airline.