Given that Parker wants a merger to be part of AA's POR, there are a few problems with your theory.
USAPA's C&B/Ls require DOH so what does USAPA do for negotiating/mediating, arbitrating the west list? DOH? Nic? Either way an "unquestionably ripe" DFR suit follows. The company, by being complicit with USAPA in using 3 lists (remember, the company has stated in court that US/AWA seniority was settled in 2007), gets involved in a hybrid DFR suit. So the merger would be on hold till the court cases were finished. That means AA's unsecured creditors wouldn't get paid until the court cases were finished and they wouldn't like that compared to an AA stand-alone plan. So a "3-way" effectively kills any merger on Parker's terms but leaves a reorganized AA free to buy US after all the legal issues are settled. Then there's the APA - they're supporting Parker's vision of a merger and expecting a bigger paycheck to go with the merger. Are they willing to wait years for the merger to happen?
Jim