The AOA website has many details which will help quell the speculation. (SCMP articles)
The AOA has requested to get back to the negotiating table, unconditionally, stating that the reinstatment of the 49ers remains an agenda item.
What remains speculative is the AOAs next move. An increase in industrial action could mean more sackings.....and the rules of the game are not quite so clear anymore. There are plenty of recently unemployed BA, AN, Virgin, UA and soon ANZ crews to take the place of perceived troublemakers (ban or no ban) Not to mention that sacking a few may suit CX anwyay, given the current global climate....although they state, that there is no plan to downsize yet.
The 49ers must remain an agenda item but not a pre-condition for negotiation. Now may not be the time to rattle the CX cage with anything more than 'work to rule'. (And that includes the recruitment ban, meantime)
There are no jobs out there. Can anyone in CX afford that fate that so many of us have suffered recently?
Finally lets not forget that the AOA approached CX immediately after the US attacks promising to help the customers wherever possible. Surely a sign of good faith on their behalf.
In a continual effort to find blame the ban creates new victims. Is compromise and maturity too much to ask (from both sides)?