There are two issues at play here. . . . . the 1st (as championed by cucuotto) is that the existing NAS pilots on the "Core" contract (and indeed any "Unionised" pilot from Scandinavia) are smarting at the fact that the "Big Bear" decided he could only afford/justify this project if he did it on the cheap, & has made no effort to package/offer it as
anything sweeter.
Too much O' Leary Koolade means he is totally immune to any (perhaps justified) wailing & gnashing of teeth from "K Area" players, that their expectations of participation in the expansion into long-haul , have been dealt with so off-handedly.
The other side of the coin is those (Scandis & non Scandis) who have identified this opportunity as worth "looking at", with a (guarded) perhaps slightly "Rose tinted spectacles" (?) hope, that it could/may get better in the future.
A bit like the old joke about a woman getting involved with a man convinced he will change
. . . and a man getting involved with a woman convinced she won't change
(both parties are of course subsequently proven to be totally delusional, & totally wrong)
I fear in the case of NLH, both of the factions participating here, are destined to be disappointed in the long-term.