Neptune Spear,
At the risk of serious thread drift, for which I apologize and promise not to do again, I didn't get any pay raise from the TA; I've been retired since 2003; my days of pay raises are over via my own choices. I'm in the category of "...some old Delta pilots took their pension...". Never flew again...long story...too boring.
Like my fellow widgetheads you might know over there at EK, I'm sure we'd all have liked to get our original seniority back (or to have continued on with it in the first place without interruption). However, the decision to leave was complex, gut-wrenching and entirely individual...beyond the judgement/criticism of observers.
We'd all simply run out of people to trust and, I'm sure, made the decision we each felt best under the circumstances. It was one of those things a person just doesn't know until he lives it.
If I had the choice to make again, I'd make the same one again because I have people who depend on me to make proper long term decisions...no do-overs granted. For me, it wasn't a "...huge financial mistake..." and I'm sorry my former cohorts feel that way.
I was glad to see some of my fellows land on their feet at EK...they're likely better men than I.
I now return you to your originally scheduled programming:
How 'bout that TA, huh ?!