Source/Link: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ame ... ct-dispute


"Dozens of American Airlines pilots are facing a demotion from captain to first officer and a corresponding pay cut after losing a contract dispute that traces to the company's 2001 acquisition of Trans World Airlines. "

"An arbitrator ruled last week that protections guaranteeing a limited number of captain positions to former TWA pilots, now employees at American, had expired. "

"The decision means 85 or more former TWA pilots could be demoted from captain to first officer, with a corresponding number of American pilots making the move up from first officer to captain. The difference in pay between the two ranks can be as wide as $75 an hour, according to a lawsuit relating to the case."

What is pilots' union saying about this, and where do they stand with this issue

"The arbitrator ultimately sided with the latter group, finding that "any aircraft" described in the expiration clause truly meant any aircraft, even if the type wasn't a part of American's fleet when the deal was reached."

This seems to be the main clause at issue. Can't imagine being in the position of being demoted (with resultant loss of pay) in that position, but it would appear at first glance that those on the TWA pilot's side did not use enough foresight in the accepted wording of the original clause.

Still sucks though. Also from AAs perspective (seems like they are very much on the fence and it's the 2 different pilot groups battling it out with eachother) they have some task keeping everyone happy and motivated.

Ex-TWA employees screwed YET again by AA.

This is what happens when a terminally ill parent gets a cannibal to adopt their children.

This would never happen in an at-will employment environment. Plenty of things that should never happen to anyone happen in the collective bargaining environment. But, it has its benefits too.

Would AA do this, 16 years after the fact? It will not constitute to a save, since the same amount of first officers will be promoted to captain with the same pay. Can't see the benefit for AA by upsetting a group of pilots by demoting them, what would be the gain for AA?

Is this kind of the same situation as the position offered by KLM for Martinair pilots?

Dutchy wrote:

Would AA do this, 16 years after the fact? It will not constitute to a save, since the same amount of first officers will be promoted to captain with the same pay. Can't see the benefit for AA by upsetting a group of pilots by demoting them, what would be the gain for AA?

Is this kind of the same situation as the position offered by KLM for Martinair pilots?

AA has no choice but to accept the nonsense that comes from inevitable collective bargaining agreements. AA did not file the dispute and has nothing to do with it.

This was a dispute AMONG different pilots, not a dispute with AA.

QueenoftheSkies wrote:

Ex-TWA employees screwed YET again by AA.

Correction: ex-TWA employees screwed yet again by the fact that their former employer was long a financial basket case.

TWA's employees and unions had essentially zero bargaining leverage since everybody involved knew that, absent an acquisition, TWA would almost certainly have ceased to exist in a matter of months, or sooner, anyway.

Flighty wrote:

AA has no choice but to accept the nonsense that comes from inevitable collective bargaining agreements. AA did not file the dispute and has nothing to do with it.

This was a dispute AMONG different pilots, not a dispute with AA.

Yep. The article even says it - both the airline and the union were ostensibly neutral in this arbitration.

16 years later? Wouldn't all of these First Officers be Captains by now anyway? If they were Captains at TW, they obviously have more time than 16 years anyway. I don't know who at AA was bothered by these pilots outranking them for Captain, but they must all be Captains by now as well.

Maybe they'd be bumped down from a 777 to a A320 or B737 but I can't imagine they'd lose their left seat permanently over this.

Flighty wrote:

This would never happen in an at-will employment environment. Plenty of things that should never happen to anyone happen in the collective bargaining environment. But, it has its benefits too.

Of course it would happen in an at-will employment environment. Things like this happen all the time in at-will environments.

cosyr wrote:

16 years later? Wouldn't all of these First Officers be Captains by now anyway? If they were Captains at TW, they obviously have more time than 16 years anyway. I don't know who at AA was bothered by these pilots outranking them for Captain, but they must all be Captains by now as well.

Yes, sixteen years is a very long time. However, you're shortsighted in your thinking if you believe that the seniority integration did not "bother" anyone. It sure did, it sure will and it's not over yet. Seniority list integrations will forever plague the industry and create distrust of unions, management and colleagues. Anytime you integrate seniority, people are hurt - no way around it.

Employment agreement, union or otherwise, only protect very highly paid people now. They are kind of like medieval guilds, and generally are happy to screw the peasants. Adam Smith observed this centuries ago.

Flighty wrote:

This would never happen in an at-will employment environment. Plenty of things that should never happen to anyone happen in the collective bargaining environment. But, it has its benefits too.

You must be clueless to how this works.

So a particular pilot hired by TWA 20 years ago has just this past October acquired sufficient seniority to captain a regional jet? Not myself being in the aviation industry, can someone explain all this seniority voodoo to me?

AirbusMDCFAN wrote:

Dozens of American Airlines pilots face demotion, pay cut after losing contract dispute

Couldn't the headline just as easily be:

Dozens of American Airlines pilots get promotion, pay jump as a result of contract dispute

Since it balances out?

hivue wrote:

So a particular pilot hired by TWA 20 years ago has just this past October acquired sufficient seniority to captain a regional jet? Not myself being in the aviation industry, can someone explain all this seniority voodoo to me?

Not exactly.

With regard to this particular suit, it has to do with the size of the aircraft flying on the certificate of AA and the division of the pilot group at American into categories and classes and how those TWA pilots integrated into the seniority system at AA. There's contractual verbiage in play which eliminates all seniority protections for TWA pilots on the American Airlines seniority list. The kick-off date for those protections is when one particular pilot can bid for and be awarded a Captain's seat on any narrow-body aircraft at mainline AA.

The Air Line Pilot's Association (ALPA), the union representing the TWA pilots - and American's Union - the Allied Pilot's Association, agreed to contractual language which defined the integration of the two seniority lists into one list. As American was the surviving entity, TWA pilots were "slotted in" behind their American colleagues - this was all agreed upon - thus making the No. 1 Captain at TWA the No. 2300-ish Captain at American....more junior pilots fared much, much worse. Many pilots with TWA hire dates in the 1980's are JUNIOR to their AA counterparts with the same HIRE date...all due to contractual language.

It is voodoo. ALPA screwed the TWA guys. During the so-called "merger" they protected a small subset of the seniority group.

Try TWAPILOTS.COM and click on 'ALPA Documents'. Heavy stuff, but interesting.

hivue wrote:

So a particular pilot hired by TWA 20 years ago has just this past October acquired sufficient seniority to captain a regional jet? Not myself being in the aviation industry, can someone explain all this seniority voodoo to me?

This has everything to do with the E190 group 1 pay scale where the captains make less then and group 2 FOs on 73s/A32s. The deal between both TW/AA pilots were in place long before the AA/US merger. The deal was when a specific TW pilot is eligible for the upgrade he must take it. He was waiting to upgrade as a group 2 captain prior to the US/AA merger since they didn't have any group 1 aircraft prior to the merger. After the merger, group 1 e-190 captain slots opened up. The specific TW pilot turned the upgrade down and now AA pilots junior to him cried foul as a breach in the deal since he was eligible to upgrade. So now, TW pilots are about to get screwed now because the E-190s threw a wrench into this situation. It would have been difficult to have the foresight to see this coming.

[quote="bigb"][/quote]

Ah, I see. Very enlightening post. Thanks.

RetiredNWA wrote:

During the so-called "merger" they protected a small subset of the seniority group.

And of course therein, again, lies the true root of this whole episode - this transaction may well have been called a "merger" but it in reality it was obviously an acquisition of assets out of bankruptcy.

bigb wrote:

This has everything to do with the E190 group 1 pay scale where the captains make less then and group 2 FOs on 73s/A32s. The deal between both TW/AA pilots were in place long before the AA/US merger. The deal was when a specific TW pilot is eligible for the upgrade he must take it. He was waiting to upgrade as a group 2 captain prior to the US/AA merger since they didn't have any group 1 aircraft prior to the merger. After the merger, group 1 e-190 captain slots opened up. The specific TW pilot turned the upgrade down and now AA pilots junior to him cried foul as a breach in the deal since he was eligible to upgrade. So now, TW pilots are about to get screwed now because the E-190s threw a wrench into this situation. It would have been difficult to have the foresight to see this coming.

Difficult (if not impossible) to foresee, indeed - and ironic given that the 190s will be gone in 18 months, anyway.

All goes to prove that the seniority list system is a relic of a bygone age and the sooner it's scrapped the better.

cosyr wrote:

16 years later? Wouldn't all of these First Officers be Captains by now anyway? If they were Captains at TW, they obviously have more time than 16 years anyway. I don't know who at AA was bothered by these pilots outranking them for Captain, but they must all be Captains by now as well.

No. Most of them were furloughed from 2003-2014 or so this clause was not an issue...

The ex-TWA pilot in question was furloughed from American in 2003 and flew for CX for 12 years before AA recalled him...

So is there some point in the future where all the fences and exceptions go away, and AA has one pilot seniority list?

Pretty sad that ALPA was trying to win over the APA, and thus did not vigorously pursue the interests of their TWA ALPA union brethern. The APA is bigger than ever, and as far as I can find, has no interest in joining with ALPA.

QueenoftheSkies wrote:

Ex-TWA employees screwed YET again by AA.

No not by AA this time. The way I look at it is they could of just got a liquidated TWA and those guys could be at the bottom of the pile so they're slightly ahead. I feel for them but it's been years. Especially back when this happened airlines would liquidate and go away and It would be the end of the story.

commavia wrote:

RetiredNWA wrote:

During the so-called "merger" they protected a small subset of the seniority group.

And of course therein, again, lies the true root of this whole episode - this transaction may well have been called a "merger" but it in reality it was obviously an acquisition of assets out of bankruptcy.

That was the legal structure of the deal. I understand some people may want a different outcome. They're about 17 years late and $501 million short.

January 10, 2001: 6:04 p.m. ET

AMR also to acquire $1.5B of US Airways assets, 49 percent stake in DC Air
By Staff Writers Tom Johnson and Kim Khan

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - American Airlines parent AMR Corp. unveiled several widely-expected acquisitions Wednesday, including an agreement to purchase most of the financially troubled Trans World Airlines Inc. assets for about $500 million cash. TWA, one of the oldest carriers in the United States, filed for bankruptcy as part of the arrangement.

http://money.cnn.com/2001/01/10/deals/amr_twa/

TerminalD wrote:

AirbusMDCFAN wrote:

Dozens of American Airlines pilots face demotion, pay cut after losing contract dispute

Couldn't the headline just as easily be:

Dozens of American Airlines pilots get promotion, pay jump as a result of contract dispute

Since it balances out?

Exactly what I was thinking. Some lose, some win. It all washes out.

MIflyer12 wrote:

That was the legal structure of the deal. I understand some people may want a different outcome. They're about 17 years late and $501 million short.

January 10, 2001: 6:04 p.m. ET

AMR also to acquire $1.5B of US Airways assets, 49 percent stake in DC Air
By Staff Writers Tom Johnson and Kim Khan

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - American Airlines parent AMR Corp. unveiled several widely-expected acquisitions Wednesday, including an agreement to purchase most of the financially troubled Trans World Airlines Inc. assets for about $500 million cash. TWA, one of the oldest carriers in the United States, filed for bankruptcy as part of the arrangement.

http://money.cnn.com/2001/01/10/deals/amr_twa/

The TWA pilots were not without leverage. Recall this is early in 2001 before the events of 9/11. Travel industry is mostly prosperous, and pilots are signing industry leading contracts. The Delta pilots had just signed a contract with very large raises.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-21/business/0106210226_1_delta-pilots-delta-express-delta-air-lines

AA wants TWA's assets, and in fact they need the TWA pilots to keep the airplanes flying. Not to mention that there was a case to be made that the TWA pilots could enforce some of their contract provisions even for an asset purchase under section 1113 of the Bankruptcy Code.

http://www.twapilot.org/TWA%20vs.%20ALPA%20Documents/Lee%20Seham%20Report.pdf

The TWA pilots sued ALPA for not protecting the interests of the TWA pilots and they won the case at a jury trial. ALPA then settled for $53 million.

http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2014/01/alpa-settles-lawsuit-with-ex-twa-pilots-for-53-million.html

bigb wrote:

This has everything to do with the E190 group 1 pay scale where the captains make less then and group 2 FOs on 73s/A32s. The deal between both TW/AA pilots were in place long before the AA/US merger. The deal was when a specific TW pilot is eligible for the upgrade he must take it. He was waiting to upgrade as a group 2 captain prior to the US/AA merger since they didn't have any group 1 aircraft prior to the merger. After the merger, group 1 e-190 captain slots opened up. The specific TW pilot turned the upgrade down and now AA pilots junior to him cried foul as a breach in the deal since he was eligible to upgrade. So now, TW pilots are about to get screwed now because the E-190s threw a wrench into this situation. It would have been difficult to have the foresight to see this coming.

The "crying foul" mentioned here seems to be a d-bag move.

commavia wrote:

[

TWA's employees and unions had essentially zero bargaining leverage since everybody involved knew that, absent an acquisition, TWA would almost certainly have ceased to exist in a matter of months, or sooner, anyway.
.

Sooner. I talked with a guy from TW accounting (when at AA HDQ to interview for a position) who said TW was not going to make payroll the week AA stepped up. This, he said, was not commonly known around the company. Evidently collapse was imminent.
In retrospect, AA would have been better off letting TW shut down and buying up assets for pennies on the dollar without employees or the Ichan deals, but (1), they couldn't risk someone else coming in ahead of them, and (2), nobody knew 9/11 and the subsequent economic crash was coming. That, of course, would have sent all the TW folks to the street.

That said, it was surprising to see how the TW folks were slotted into seniority lists, with my best understood example being the airport agents. They all came in with a new AA seniority date of May (?), 2001, the date escrow closed. Their TW seniority only figured into how they bid shifts within all "hired" on that date. [They did hold their vacation and payroll levels.] So they were all behind an agent hired by AA the day before. Exceptions were at STL and COS, which had no/minimal AA-legacy employees; the TW folks would continue bidding by their TW seniority, but IIRC, would fall into the 2001 hire date if they changed jobs/stations.
{We were already "roomates" with the TW staff in our facilities at SMF and essentially already "family" so we felt their pain.}

To my limited knowledge, the RenoAir folks followed a similar slotting practice. Both TW and QQ handling contrasted greatly with my own AirCal group; in 1987, we came in with our full seniority based on our Air California/AirCal hire date. However at least in the agent group, we came over remaining at our AirCal pay scale, which remained lower than the AA "A"and "B"-scales for a few years before we were all elevated to the one consolidated A-scale. But the OC pilots jumped up to the APA pay scale from the get-go. There was a fence for a while, with them remaining flying the former OC aircraft (737-1/2/3 and BAe146), but it seemed like perhaps only a year or so when they could bid wherever their seniority could. [Retiring the bulk of the OC fleet in short order helped that cause.]

Perhaps how the OC folks came in might have been the impetus for the AA unions to take a different stand with the next (QQ and TW) acquisitions, ensuring that nobody from those companies would have come in ahead of them with prior seniority. Definitely seemed the case with the AA vs. TW pilots. And yes, AA management stood back to let the unions sort it out. AA's APA and APFA protected their larger membership. I don't know if AA management could have dictated something more fair for the TW folks (if they'd had the balls) or if collective bargaining power ruled out any management direction.

sk736 wrote:

All goes to prove that the seniority list system is a relic of a bygone age and the sooner it's scrapped the better.

What do you suggest we replace it with?

Final insult to these guys.

I flew with them at Eagle...a huge chunk of them got screwed by their union, APA and the buyout itself.

The integration was such a disaster that ALPA paid a hefty fine and there are now laws in place to try (Try) and prevent it from happening again.

Too many posters on this site not in the know say that TWA was a deadman walking and pilots were lucky for anything.

However, these uninformed posters do not understand union integration. Once AA bought a live (not dead) company, the lists needed to be integrated just as DL merging with NW or UA merging with CO. TWAs finances were irrelevant unless AA let them die before they picked up pieces. But AA didn't do that...The merger thoroughly screwed TWA guys with slotting and half the list getting stapled.

There was a subsequent downturn (9/11), but dont fool yourselves...AA dismembered any airline they every bought. STL and anything that came from TWA followed a similar pattern as earlier purchases by AMR. 9/11 sped it up...but you would still see an empty concourse at Lambert today.

jfklganyc wrote:

However, these uninformed posters do not understand union integration. Once AA bought a live (not dead) company, the lists needed to be integrated just as DL merging with NW or UA merging with CO. TWAs finances were irrelevant unless AA let them die before they picked up pieces. But AA didn't do that...The merger thoroughly screwed TWA guys with slotting and half the list getting stapled.

AA did not buy a live TWA company. AA entered into an "asset purchase agreement" with TWA that included a pre-arranged bankruptcy filing. The purchased Trans World Airlines Inc assets were dumped into a new AA owned entity (TWA Airlines LLC), while the stripped shell of TWA Inc was all that remained after the final CH 11 was done . The integration of lists was required for two reasons - 1, a deal offered by AA as part of the purchase; 2, because even in bankruptcy of this sort certain labour rules and agreements continue.

Not the case.

TWA never stopped flying. Nor was there an intention to stop flying. Bankruptcy and subsequent TWA LLC was utilized to jettison negative assets like the Karibu agreement.

As far as Union integration is concerened, these were two live companies with a list integration.

ALPA (being the corrupt greedy entitity they are) screwed over their own pilots (slotting and 50% staple) with the hopes that AA pilots would leave APA and go to ALPA.

TW pilots were screwed over as a result...and in the end, ALPA got theirs with the largest judgement against a pilot union ever.

Again, as far as union integration is concerned, the way of the acquistion was irrelevant. These were two live airlines merging lists.

Management and their actions were irrelevant:
The AA union wanted to rape and pillage and ALPA decided they would let them if they got a piece of the spoils.

The result is what you see today

jfklganyc wrote:

However, these uninformed posters do not understand union integration. Once AA bought a live (not dead) company, the lists needed to be integrated just as DL merging with NW or UA merging with CO. TWAs finances were irrelevant unless AA let them die before they picked up pieces. But AA didn't do that...The merger thoroughly screwed TWA guys with slotting and half the list getting stapled.

jfklganyc wrote:

Again, as far as union integration is concerned, the way of the acquistion was irrelevant. These were two live airlines merging lists.

Not sure I agree that "the way of the acquisition was irrelevant" to the ultimate outcome of slotting and stapling. Arbitration decisions - one pretty (in)famous one from recent memory comes to mind! - have long taken into account "career expectations." And the fact that TWA was, as is now fairly universally accepted, on the verge liquidation means that - on April 10, 2001 - there were unquestionably vast differences in the reasonable "career expectations" and prospects among the two groups. Let's be realistic - absent an acquisition, TWA's pilots were all likely to be out of work within a matter of months, if not weeks, anyway, and the U.S. pilot labor market would have been flooded with career aviators all starting over at day 1 seniority at new employers.

In that context, all I'd say is that, if this had not been handled internally within (among) the unions but had been, say, handed to an arbitrator to decide, I'm not sure the outcome would have been much different - lots of slotting and stapling.

diverdave wrote:

The TWA pilots were not without leverage. Recall this is early in 2001 before the events of 9/11. Travel industry is mostly prosperous, and pilots are signing industry leading contracts. The Delta pilots had just signed a contract with very large raises.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-21/business/0106210226_1_delta-pilots-delta-express-delta-air-lines

AA wants TWA's assets, and in fact they need the TWA pilots to keep the airplanes flying. Not to mention that there was a case to be made that the TWA pilots could enforce some of their contract provisions even for an asset purchase under section 1113 of the Bankruptcy Code.

That doesn't not give them leverage in terms of negotiating seniority position. If TWA failed and AA picked up the assets yes, they would need more pilots to fly their new planes. But TWA's pilots would need new jobs to replace their old one. And despite all the industry leading contracts being signed and what not guess where in terms of seniority the TWA pilots would have been at their new jobs.

OB1504 wrote:

sk736 wrote:

All goes to prove that the seniority list system is a relic of a bygone age and the sooner it's scrapped the better.

What do you suggest we replace it with?

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

Flighty wrote:

This would never happen in an at-will employment environment. Plenty of things that should never happen to anyone happen in the collective bargaining environment. But, it has its benefits too.

Oh yes it does. In the real world, it happens all the time in non-union environments or non-collective bargaining environments. Perhaps the airline world is a bastion of old fashioned nice behaviour, but in the real world, very, very dirty, dodgy dealings happen all the time in non collective bargaining environments.

It's not about how good you are at your job, it's usually about how good you are at stabbing everyone else in the back.

Sorry for the dumb question from across the pond - but would Captains demoted to F/O not seek employment as direct-entry Captains elsewhere in times of airlines having difficulties hiring flight deck crew?

vfw614 wrote:

Sorry for the dumb question from across the pond - but would Captains demoted to F/O not seek employment as direct-entry Captains elsewhere in times of airlines having difficulties hiring flight deck crew?

No airlines in the US hire direct entry captains, outside of a few regionals which are terrible places to work, and a massive paycut compared to being an FO at AA.

sk736 wrote:

OB1504 wrote:

sk736 wrote:

All goes to prove that the seniority list system is a relic of a bygone age and the sooner it's scrapped the better.

What do you suggest we replace it with?

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

How did this discussion devolve into direct-entry captains?

Airlines employ a seniority system based upon date of hire in most workgroups outside of management, with few exceptions. That's the way it works, and, it always will be this way. This happens in many non-unionized, non-airline workforces throughout the world.

Blockplus wrote:

sk736 wrote:

OB1504 wrote:

What do you suggest we replace it with?

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

What a completely ridiculous response. Perhaps you need to get a dictionary to help you understand the word 'merit'.

sk736 wrote:

Blockplus wrote:

sk736 wrote:

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

What a completely ridiculous response. Perhaps you need to get a dictionary to help you understand the word 'merit'.

No. He/She is completely correct.

sk736 wrote:

Blockplus wrote:

sk736 wrote:

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

What a completely ridiculous response. Perhaps you need to get a dictionary to help you understand the word 'merit'.

Perhaps you should think about the safety ramifications of people stretching fuel or flying fatigued or taking an unsafe airplane just to impress the bosses. Seniority systems in spite of all the time to time issues is the only system that removes any incentive to operate in an unsafe manner. No need to impress the boss = no need to do anything other than just perform your duties safely. period.

sk736 wrote:

Blockplus wrote:

sk736 wrote:

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

What a completely ridiculous response. Perhaps you need to get a dictionary to help you understand the word 'merit'.

And what kind of metrics would you be measuring? How would their merit be determined in their job performance, exactly, without compromising safety or good judgement? Let's hear some concrete proposals.

sk736 wrote:

Blockplus wrote:

sk736 wrote:

A system based on merit, not entitlement (just like in most other industries).

thank heaven the US system doesnt use a who you know approach. Just a system based on comparative longevity where just about everyone hired has been and will be a capt. Promotions for toeing the company line instead of having safty at heart doesnt fly here..

What a completely ridiculous response. Perhaps you need to get a dictionary to help you understand the word 'merit'.

the quality of being particularly good or worthy, especially so as to deserve praise or reward.

Pilot adds fuel, refuses aircraft for safety items, keeps separate logbook to monitor company...
union says that is meritable... company... not so much.

This thread was about former TWA pilots now integrated onto the AA seniority list, and, how they have been adversely impacted by the poor negotiations of the Air Line Pilot's Association.

A merit-based system in the airline pilot world will not work. It has been tried. The results have been less than optimal.

RetiredNWA wrote:

This thread was about former TWA pilots now integrated onto the AA seniority list, and, how they have been adversely impacted by the poor negotiations of the Air Line Pilot's Association.

A merit-based system in the airline pilot world will not work. It has been tried. The results have been less than optimal.

What hasn't been tried yet is an industry-wide seniority system, rather than a company-by-company one. But the only way that occurs is if each carrier's pilot group is organized under the same union, and that union would have to be willing to tell the membership they may have to engage in some concessions to get each CBA constructed identically, with a standardized payscale for all conceivable equipment across the industry, and letters of agreement with each carrier to abide by a universal seniority system.

Of course the rank and file would never go for that, so it's a moot point - but nevertheless, it's an interesting one to contemplate.