The SLI issue between East and West, in all likelihood, will be OBE (overtaken by events) if the merger with AMR occurs.
All this rhetoric regarding ANYTHING from the last seven years or so, will not matter. There is no East-West JCBA, which means the NIC will be dead, our TA will be OBE and therefore the East-West PID will not mean squat, with respect to an AMR merger.
None of any of this stuff matters, we never consummated our merger and in fact we have never really merged (at least with respect to the pilots). On what basis do we bid our monthly schedules, our vacations, our pay or our equipment and base bids? On our separate dates of hire, correct? As pilots, we operate as if there was NEVER a merger, we live with our separate DOH status, period! As it should be!
One of the few things I agree with Doug Parker on is that there will be a three way seniority integration. If he has his way, it will take a "long" time" to complete the process. The rest of the eventual JCBA with AMR is of much more interest to "Team Tempe" than how we divide up who is flying what. They really do not care and have told all of us so, on many occasions.
It will be, what it will be and none of us will really have anything to say about the matter at the end of the day. I saw the same thing at Eastern, as riotous as one's position may be, it does not trump the desires of the "big money", if the powers at be want this merger, it will happen and our little SLI "pissing contest" wont mean squat! Outside of saving the company "lots" of money!
seajay