767 300 ER hit the nail on the head. I've wondered how the AA Pilot Merger Committee justified (other than doing an excellent job protecting the original AA pilots' jobs) such a staple of seniority lists (despite protecting some senior TWA pilots), except by using these two rationalizations;
1) TWA might not have survived more than a short while.
2) Almost blaming TWA's problems on the TWA pilots, who had for years, reduced their own salaries by 40%, in order to repair crippling cash-flow damage which was inflicted on the operation by former owner Icahn and his attorneys-all of whom had no scruples or business integrity, whatsoever. But when did Ubermenschen ever take pity on the Untermenschen: "Arbeit Macht Frei".
Using the AA Merger Committee's (who somehow also deserved to have the views of Owner-Ubermenschen, as they gazed down to their fellow pilots....) logic before 9/11, they are (or were) entitled to a self-righteous, unashamed attitude because they previously WERE a relatively healthy airline. Ironically, TWA's Merger Committee, partly due to strong impatience and pressure on the part of Icahn for quick merger results, did a somewhat similar thing to Ozark Airlines in the 90s, which consisted of DC-9s.