AMR will consider US Airways merger

[fortystripes]

AMR, US Airways agree to consider merger - Market Day (http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/31/13590396-amr-us-airways-agree-to-consider-merger?lite)

American Airlines, which has resisted overtures from US Airways for months, has agreed to consider a potential merger, the two airlines said Friday.
A deal, which is still far from reality, would create an airline giant on par with the world's largest — United Continental Holdings Inc. and the slightly smaller Delta Air Lines.
USAirways CEO Doug Parker has been pushing for a merger since American's parent company, AMR Corp., entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection nine months ago.
Now the companies have taken a step toward that possibility, signing a non-disclosure agreement that allows them to share confidential information.
"It does not mean we are merging — it simply means we have agreed to work together to discuss and analyze a potential merger," Parker said in a letter to employees.
American Airlines CEO Tom Horton said in a note to managers that the airline is cutting expenses and "also now looking at other strategic options that could make the new American even stronger."
Horton and Parker, longtime friends who once worked together at AMR, met in Washington last month to discuss the potential combination, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
AMR has been under pressure to consider a merger from some bondholders, who have a major say in whether the airline can emerge from bankruptcy as an independent company.
"I think a transaction will occur," said airline industry analyst Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. "The only question is whether it will be during or after the restructuring."
US Airways shares were up 2.5 percent to $10.66 and AMR was up 2.9 percent to 46.5 cents in morning trading.
Morningstar analyst Basili Alukos said it would be in the best interests of American and US Airways to combine, a tie-up that would create a company rivaling United Continental Holdings Inc and Delta Air Lines Inc in scope.
"You would have the international operations of AMR and the lower cost structure of US Airways," Alukos said.

When AT&T was divested in 1984, they were split into 7 separate companies. Since then, mergers and acquisitions have led to there being only 3 left - AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. Will we see a day soon when Americans will only choose between American Airways, Delta and United?

[poorjohn]

More likely Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgin America?

[aterpster]

fortystripes:

When AT&T was divested in 1984, they were split into 7 separate companies. Since then, mergers and acquisitions have led to there being only 3 left - AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink.

Verizon is unique in that it also gobbled up some independents, the biggest being GTE. Subsequently, they sold the former GTE Hawaii to the Carlyle Group, a bunch of bottom feeders.

No bottom feeders in the airline business, of course. :)

[Pugilistic Animus]

I wonder how they'll merge seniority it will be bloody...not to mention customer service will improve immensely...:\:\:\

[cldrvr]

Merge seniority? Simples, abolish it. Come on, it is only there to protect the guys who would have been canned a long time ago if it wasn't for seniority. Promote on skills and merit, how hard can it be.

[beerdrinker]

Here we go again


Promote on skills and merit,

That is exactly what happens. When your time comes, you do your command course and are "Promoted on skills and merit,"

How else would you determine a person was ready for his command course if you do not use seniority? Best at brown nosing management?

[Spitoon]

I might as well contribute to the thread drift.....

That is exactly what happens. When your time comes, you do your command course and are "Promoted on skills and merit,"

How else would you determine a person was ready for his command course if you do not use seniority? Best at brown nosing management?There is no indication of mischief-making in the post so I'm assuming it's intended in all seriousness.

First, a disclaimer, I'm not a pilot - just a simple controller. We don't work in 'crews' but we do have supervisors.

I have worked with some excellent supervisors, and more average to appalling supervisors. The less able individuals were, without exception, given the job on the basis of seniority - they were next in line. In these more enlightened days (in some parts anyway) supervisors are generally selected on the basis of their knowledge, skills and potential. One of the best supervisors I ever worked with was a young 'un (I'm now old enough to look around me and see many "youngsters") who had relatively little operational experience and did not particularly distinguish himself as an operational controller but did all the supervisory stuff superbly.

Now I'm not trying to say that the role of aircraft commander and ATC supervisor are the same but there undoubtedly some comparable elements. But I am trying to say that seniority systems based on years in service do not necessarily produce the best results and can be rather easily abused for unrelated reasons.

[Pugilistic Animus]

Spitoon with the inevitable human follies and foibles both systems have merit and drawback...both can be abused or misused...both can be very unfair...but AA and USAir aren't giving up their seniority systems no time soon..hence there will be blood on the floor IMHO

[cldrvr]

That is exactly what happens. When your time comes, you do your command course and are "Promoted on skills and merit,"

And that is your issue in a nutshell, way too many muppets upgraded to the left seat who shouldn't even have been in the right one.

[Pugilistic Animus]

but on the flipside the brown noser who can't fly either can also be promoted unfairly in the 'merit system'

There's no way too root out human muppetry...many have tried...impossible!!!

:=

[Island-Flyer]

Some pilots and I were discussing the reason for seniority. It's common sense that given the opportunity, lackeyism will take root in organizations. While the seniority system sometimes results in the "unworthy" being promoted, at least it has some fairness to its design. The promotion of friends and butt-kissers that would inevitably come to a large organization (like an airline) without a definitive system like seniority would neither promote skilled individuals nor promote company loyalty. It may sometimes get it right, but as seen in politics it would eventually devolve into "my buddy will be your captain" no matter how inept my buddy is.

It was just taking the better of the two options.

[Prober]

Seniority serves you up on a plate to be dissected at the time when you are to be considered for command (in, quite naturally, seniority order). There then follows a complex and extremely thorough programme of establishing whether or not you are fit for the transition. Some make it, some don’t. (Well, all this happens in ‘proper’ airlines but I cannot speak for ‘improper’ ones.) Those who have shown exceptional ability whilst in the right hand seat should have no trouble. However, to pluck them out of the F/O list out of order, whether it be because of a demonstration of that ability, or on a whim or because of brown-nosing would soon bring that airline to its knees – or, more likely, a sudden stop.
Prober

[aterpster]

cldrvr:

Merge seniority? Simples, abolish it. Come on, it is only there to protect the guys who would have been canned a long time ago if it wasn't for seniority. Promote on skills and merit, how hard can it be.

You aren't or have not been in the business I trust and hope.

[misd-agin]

It's already been announced that American, and therefore OneWorld, would be the surviving airline.

[sevenstrokeroll]

I really get a kick out of those posting about seniority...these folks don't know anything about being an airline pilot.

IF it was truly by merit and ability... would be the number one at my airline. But who is to judge? Kissing up to management would certainly take place....even out and out bribes. And who would judge the chief pilot

So, its seniority and passing a check ride.

and it should be date of hire...

[bubbers44]

The seniority will be integrated and all all will be fine. Not to worry. We did this with AA in 87 and it was very fair. Flew their 727s soon after with big pay raise. This will be interesting.

[Pugilistic Animus]

Bubbers44 I'm glad to hear that then best of luck...:ok:

[bubbers44]

I think AA and USAir will merge because all the other majors did. We might be the largest again. We will see. I started out with the greatest airline in the world and ended up with a job.

[bubbers44]

By the way the great job was not AA, it was Aircal.

[Hotel Tango]

Well, while you pilot chappies whinge about seniority you might consider whether you'll have a job at all. Personally as an ex AA and US customer, I don't care if they merge or not. Both now provide well below par service to their customers and neither deserve to be in business. I for one avoid them like the plague. However, in the interest of fairness, I have to say that United and Delta are no better.

[joejet]

The merger of seniority will be very easy this time. American Airlines has always made the merger of pilot groups a simple task. The airline that is "bought" is merely stapled to the bottom of the list. The American pilots prefered this method with the purchase of Reno Air, and TWA. This will make for both a happy and healthy airline. AA pilots keep their tried and tested seniority integration model, and US Airways pilots all become wide-body pilots. Any furloughs will be On the AA side. Just like TWA, they would have lost their jobs anyways. It worked before for AA, why not again!:ok:

[Spooky 2]

Yea, BA and Air France are really great :confused:

[gcal]

Can someone please tell who now owns who in the U.S.
We have Delta or is it Continental etc etc etc....
They all seem to be squabbling and none have a world class product for the passenger eg ancient 757s with drop down movie screens being used on transatlantic services, how very soviet era! Charging for drinks in coach and surly crews.
I remember AA 1st class when you had a caviar trolley, roast garlic lamb, and even got your nuts warmed if you were lucky.
Surely it's a time to get your act together or get out.

[Hotel Tango]

Witty comeback Spooky 2. Who mentioned BA or AF ???

[TowerDog]

I remember AA 1st class when you had a caviar trolley, roast garlic lamb, and even got your nuts warmed if you were lucky.

AA will still warm yer nuts, no changes there.

Have not seen caviar trolleys lately, but I usually ride AA business class rather than first, warm nuts either way.

[Spooky 2]

I thought that up all by my self. :) Believe with a few notable exceptions the rest of the worlds airlines are little different than what we see here in the uS. The good news is that they are getting better, but still not likely to be as great as some here may be thinking of. The fact is you can get a lousy ride on ANY airline if you travel enough, which mens of course, your already screwed before you get on the airplane. :mad:

[bubbers44]

Reno Airlines was a staple because the last part of the list was going to be out of work.

[galaxy flyer]

Spooky2

Have you flown EK, SQ, or CX? Vastly better than US carriers for international service.

bubbers44

I take it a "staple" for AA pilots is OK because they're going out of business? DOH is the ONLY sane system, that's why it is called a seniority list.

[Spooky 2]

Can you read? I noted the exceptions. US carriers will never achieve these levels off service since they are under the various gubberment mandates as how they treat their employees. I have had service that sucked on all of the airlines none the less. I assume you work for one of these airlines?

[fr8doggie]

Quote:



I remember AA 1st class when you had a caviar trolley, roast garlic lamb, and even got your nuts warmed if you were lucky.

AA will still warm yer nuts, no changes there.

Have not seen caviar trolleys lately, but I usually ride AA business class rather than first, warm nuts either way.

Tower Dog:

I think he had something else in mind....;)

[galaxy flyer]

Spooky2

You assume wrong. SLF to meet my assigned plane.

[TowerDog]

I think he had something else in mind....



Thanks for the heads up bit I kind of got the idea....

[gcal]

Well I was going back to the Crandall days when you had more choice of whiskey than a 5* hotel ;)
However it must be getting confusing for the punter as to who is who these days. That cannot be doing much good in the long run.

[sevenstrokeroll]

I remember the good old days of passenger flying...what happened is simply this:

MONEY...the cut rate airlines won and the other airlines have to lower themselves to the ways of the worst.

American Airlines has been less than proper in seniority integration...so has every airline I can think of.

[bubbers44]

It is a Walmart world in the airline business today. Nobody wants to admit to shopping there but the prices are usually good. The good old days of everybody dressed to the hilt to fly are long gone. I remember back in the 80's when we were flying passengers from Burbank to San Francisco for the same price as a Greyhound bus ticket. Yup, they looked like Greyhound bus people exactly.

[sevenstrokeroll]

I hate wal mart....but it carries one or two products that I can't get elsewhere...so I go once in awhile.

but I wish someone would start an airline that had a strict dress code, and charged enough to keep the riff raff off the planes by virtue o being too expensive.

[TowerDog]

American Airlines has always made the merger of pilot groups a simple task. The airline that is "bought" is merely stapled to the bottom of the list.

Not so fast: Some TWA pilots got stapled to the bottom of the list, others went high up on the combined list and kept flying as captains. They also got to the top of AA's 12 year pay scale instantly.

Needless to say, you don't hear many complaints from the TWA guys who ended up as wide body AA captains instead of saying: "Would you like fries with that Sir?"

Get your facts straight before you post next time joejet :=

[koakpilot]

Dog,

Get your facts straight! :=

2/3 of the entire TWA seniority list was stapled behind an April 2001 new hire! Those that got w/b or n/b captain ONLY got it because they were forced to remain in the STL ghetto. If they left to any other base, they would be relegated to their APA/AA modified seniority number. Can you imagine a 1985 TWA hire Captain suddenly getting bumped to F/O then the street on furlough, while the other natives underneath him/her kept flying? Please don't distort the facts!

[TowerDog]

Get your facts straight!


Uh, what did I say that was not factual...?:confused:

[bubbers44]

I did hate one year when I had to pack a suit and tie on our 34 ft Searay to the Bahamas because I had to go to LAX for my daughters college graduation. By the time I got back to the Island leaving my wife in a safe port I looked like a total dork wearing long pants, black shoes carrying my coat and tie to the bar. By then my wife had made a lot of friends so explained how we had to non rev back then.

It is fun seeing how the celeb's dressed in the 40's and 50's. Nick Nolte now wears pajamas on his first class all nighters on AA.

[koakpilot]

Over simplification of the TWA/AA integration, highly inaccurate.

[galaxy flyer]

TowerDog

A good friend, '85 hire at Ozark (last class there) was in top 300 of TWA list. His adjusted DOH on the combined AA/TWA was 1997-ish. He flew as a Captain ONLY by staying in STL. Anywhere else--F/O, probably 75/76. Unless you consider being in the bottom half "high up the AA list", he isn't. I'm pretty sure a very small percentage of TWA guys are AA wide body captains.

[misd-agin]

koakpilot - if you're going to tell someone else to get their facts straight you might try researching your facts better.

Two-thirds stapled? No. It was about 1200 out of 2300. The other 1100 were feathered into the combined list. I forget the ratio. It was about 5 or 9:1.

[koakpilot]

It was the top 1/3 feathered in a 8.75 : 1 ratio AFTER number 3,000 and something on the AA list, the rest were stapled after the 2001 newhire. :=

[airnostalgia]

Pilots who were in mergers with American did not do well. Talk to a TWA pilot (if you can find one)..

[VFD]

He flew as a Captain ONLY by staying in STL. Anywhere else--F/O, probably 75/76

You hit the nail on the head here with the STL base. There was language to protect the pilots in the STL base. This lead to a lot of dead heading between STL and ORD which has caused issues with the ORD base.

I have no clue where this will end up but it comes as no surprise that AA has announced that they will be closing the STL base in Bankruptcy Court.
Clearing a hassle for AA and pushing the senority issue to a final agreement during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Needless to say someone or the other will end up not being happy.

[Dannyboy39]

Going back to the original post, any chance of this new "super airline" learning lessons of the past in terms of finance? Y'know, the simple aim of a successful business - bringing in more money than outgoings? Thought not.

[aa73]

All of you guys are factually wrong.

46% of the TWA list (starting at AA seniority # around 2500) was integrated at 8:1 (8 AA pilots to 1 TWA pilot.)

54% of the list was stapled below the April 2001 AA new hire class.

Breaking it down by numbers, approximately 900 pilots got integrated, and the remaining 1200 got stapled.

As an AA "native", I have no problem whatsoever acknowledging the fact that APA went WAY out of their way to protect Native AA jobs and a good portion of the TWA pilots got a royal screwing. In fact Congress passed a law preventing that from ever happening again.

[bubbers44]

But is it right to be with a carrier that can let you be put below a carrier that you buy?

[The Ancient Geek]

Seniority is always going to be a contentious issue when airlines merge.

What should happen here ?

Airline A has a successfull regional operation, new hires start as FO on B1900 and work their way up via Q400 to the most senior as A320 captains. There are no Boeing aircraft in the fleet.

Airline B operates a medium/long haul all Boeing fleet with 737, 757 and 777. Basically a sound company but struggling financially and in danger of going bust.

A buys B, Sort out the seniority.

[sevenstrokeroll]

well

I was hired in 1988...my airline then bought two other airlines and went date of hire even though one of the airlines was out of money.

then another airline and mine got together and people hired AFTER I got hired got placed senior to me...so WORSE THAN date of hire.

After another merger, people with 7 years seniority were placed ahead of me when I had 23 years seniority. MUCH worse than date of hire for me.

so, I've seen it all...except of course benefiting me.

I didn't mind date of hire in the first two mergers/acquisitions...but when date of hire suddenly wasn't good enough for the last two...I had to say: WTF?

[aterpster]

Pilots are quite a back-stabbing selfish lot when it comes to mergers.

The chap who recently suggested a merit system instead of seniority would have lots of fun trying to resolve a merger.

[galaxy flyer]

aa73

Please show where I was factually wrong, please. My friend around TW #300 applying 8:1 ratio makes him around #4900 (2500 + 8*300). His adjusted DOH went from 85-ish to '97.

And, I'm pretty certain the senior TW Captain was way senior to AA #2500.

GF

[Roadster280]

Basically a sound company but struggling financially and in danger of going bust.

Then it's not a sound company, is it?

If an airline goes bust, chapter 7 bankruptcy, then all of its employees are out of work. They may get jobs with other companies. But they will start out at the bottom.

So what is the difference, if a bankrupt airline is bought out of the bankruptcy court because the judge thinks that gives the best return to the creditors? After all, that is the only way the company is being bought. If the judge thought the creditors would be better served by liquidation, then that's what would happen.

Completely different when two healthy companies merge, but that's not the case with AA.

[aterpster]

g.f.:

I was already retired from TWA when this happened. I recall hearing that the senior most 40, or so, TWA pilots were placed very high on the AAL list.

I may have the mechanics of it wrong, but a former F/O of mine became a AAL 767 captain as soon as TWA LLC stopped flying.

[aterpster]

Roadster 280:

Completely different when two healthy companies merge, but that's not the case with AA.

Sort of like AAL and TWA. AAL was healthy, but TWA was not. Nonetheless AAAL purchased TWA directly. TWA was not in bankruptcy at the time of the purchase.

[aa73]

aa73

Please show where I was factually wrong, please. My friend around TW #300 applying 8:1 ratio makes him around #4900 (2500 + 8*300). His adjusted DOH went from 85-ish to '97.

And, I'm pretty certain the senior TW Captain was way senior to AA #2500.

GF

You're not wrong about your #300 seniority friend. He probably did end up around 5000ish. However, 2 things: 1) a #300 at TWA was not hired at TWA in 1985, more likely 1978 or earlier. 2) a 5000 seniority # at AA is most definitely NOT a 1997 DOH, closer to 1991.

The seniormost TWA pilot is currently sitting at AA seniority #2912. It was around 2500 when the list came out in 2001.

[BenThere]

I'm an outsider on the TWA/AA merger, but I went through the Northwest/Delta merger.

I always thought TWA pilots were hard done by the integration. TWA was a proud carrier not long removed from the top of the heap. The reception they got from American's union and pilot group was hostile and arrogant.

We Northwest pilots took a bit of a seniority hit when the agreement was reached, but I have to say, a few years after the merger, that the handshake was always out there between us and the Delta pilots, the merger was done as well as I've ever seen one done, and today, the airline is seamless.

I thought from the beginning, and still do, that Northwest had a better flying operation, but Delta is a much better company to work for.

[misd-agin]

aterpser - You're splitting hairs saying TWA wasn't in BK when the purchase was done. They declared BK the next day.

Your FO buddy didn't upgrade to 767 CA because he suddenly got to fly former TWA routes. TWA LLC last flew in Dec. 2001, or 3 months after 9/11.

[galaxy flyer]

aa73

I stand corrected, sir. Not sure if it's my memory of his story or his, shall we say, embellishments. In any case, best of luck on the madness of AA; reminds me of my EAL experience.

[aterpster]

misd-again:

aterpser - You're splitting hairs saying TWA wasn't in BK when the purchase was done. They declared BK the next day.

More likely a faulty memory. I took early retirement from TWA in 1990, so by 2001 I really didn't care except for two friends who flew for LLC for whatever period of time it was.

Your FO buddy didn't upgrade to 767 CA because he suddenly got to fly former TWA routes. TWA LLC last flew in Dec. 2001, or 3 months after 9/11

He retired from AAL several years after LLC was gone. He was one of a few that the merger placed quite high on the AAL seniority list.

[aa73]

I'm an outsider on the TWA/AA merger, but I went through the Northwest/Delta merger.

I always thought TWA pilots were hard done by the integration. TWA was a proud carrier not long removed from the top of the heap. The reception they got from American's union and pilot group was hostile and arrogant.

We Northwest pilots took a bit of a seniority hit when the agreement was reached, but I have to say, a few years after the merger, that the handshake was always out there between us and the Delta pilots, the merger was done as well as I've ever seen one done, and today, the airline is seamless.

I thought from the beginning, and still do, that Northwest had a better flying operation, but Delta is a much better company to work for.

I agree, the AA/TWA merger was a precise example on how NOT to merge two airlines.

The problem stemmed from the fact that APA absolutely refused to have it arbitrated, and in fact required TWA Pilots to waive their seniority protections as a condition of employment.

SWA did the same exact thing with Muse, Morris, and tried to do as much with AirTran. For some reason, AA and SWA pilots always take a hard line approach when it comes to mergers.

Because of that, Congress passed a law preventing that from ever happening again.

I too tend to look at the DL/NW merger as the benchmark on how to properly merge two airlines. It was as seamless as a merger ever could be.

[400drvr]

When AT&T was divested in 1984, they were split into 7 separate companies. Since then, mergers and acquisitions have led to there being only 3 left - AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. Will we see a day soon when Americans will only choose between American Airways, Delta and United?

Don't forget the Banks:sad:

[cactusbusdrvr]

Date of hire has not been used to integrate seniority list for quite a while. All of the recent arbitrations have gone on a rationed basis by aircraft type. The reason for this is the disparity between pilot longevity for the different merger partners. If both have the same fleet types and length of service then DOH would come into play a little more. But when you have a younger, successful airline buying a bankrupt carrier then the jobs will be rationed based on what jobs each pilot group brings to the table.

[cactusbusdrvr]

The issue has come up since we do not have mergers between equals in some cases. One carrier is stronger than the other. Progression to the LHS has been quicker for the pilots at the stronger carrier. The pilots at the struggling carrier have faced stagnation or furloughs. They cannot expect to jump to the LHS from furlough or reserve F/O just because they have sat stagnant for 20 years in the RHS. The job they brought to the merger is the seat and the jet they are in, no more.

CAL/UAL is a prime example of this. CAL captains had as little as 5 years on property. UAL had furloughed back to 1999 hires. How do you integrate that? Rationed spots on the list based on aircraft type. UAL has more wide bodies, they get the bulk of those positions. CAL has more narrowbodies, the ratio is more in their favor. Furloughees get put on the bottom below the last active pilot.

In our case at America West/ Us Air the top 517 slots went to Us Air pilots since they had 20 wide bodies. The rest was done on a roughly 3 for 2 ratio after the first 517, 3 East pilots for every 2 West pilots. That was the Nicolau Award that the UsAir East pilots left ALPA over. 7 years later we have no joint contract and they make $25 per hour less than the West pilots, and we wait for a judge to rule whether the company is bound to use the list that they accepted 4 years ago but never implemented in a contract.

[The Range]

Cactus,
So what did the East pilots want?

[sevenstrokeroll]

its always interesting to see the different views in a merger. one airline is up, the other is down, the people ride around in a hole in the ground.

it is generally regarded that the ''east '' pilots and ''east'' routes are the money makers and the ''west'' routes are barely hanging on.

shouldn't the ''best'' pilot be the captain? but, how do we decide who the best pilot is? is it the guy who plays golf with the chief pilot and lets the chief pilot win at golf? is it the guy who kisses the most empenage? is it the guy who flys the best and knows more?

hmmmm

oh, how about the guy who has been there the longest...he should have picked up something by now...just by hanging around for 20 plus years.

so, someone who has been around for 24 years shouldn't be captain over the guy who has been around 7 years?

the argument for how well one airline is doing financially is a cute one. of course in five years the ''doing well'' airline might have been in bankruptcy. things change.

American Airlines was one of the only legacy carriers not having gone bankrupt for the first ten years of the new century or so...and bam...bankrupt and the worst on time record in the industry...pilot strife, furloughs etc...all through the time frame united, usair, and some of the real names of the industry have had to declare bankruptcy.

one day you are up, the next you are down...but years and years of flying experience should count for something.

yup...''east'' pilots wanted date of hire. and why not? DOH worked with other mergers. 20 plus years in the cockpit is still more ''know how'' than 7 years.

oh, and if you think of a way to really know who the best pilot is and grant seniority by that method, I'm all for it.

But it is simply nuts to have a captain with 17 years less experience than the copilot.

[Airbubba]

yup...''east'' pilots wanted date of hire. and why not? DOH worked with other mergers. 20 plus years in the cockpit is still more ''know how'' than 7 years.

Well, interesting theory but in the real world very few U.S. airline seniority list mergers in the past three decades have gone date of hire. Piedmont-Empire perhaps? I don't think so... :)

As you and I know from personal experience, there are usually ratios, fences and some version of Allegheny-Mowhawk LPP's (Labor Protective Provisions). I've even had folks given their commuter airline date of hire and put on top of me on the 'A' scale years after I came to work for an ALPA mainline carrier under a 'flow-through agreement'.

I think a date of hire merger is like that mythical National Seniority List and the nationwide SOS (Suspension of Service), sounds great but don't think we'll live to see it. Maybe the Great Airline Pilot Shortage will arrive someday but I've been waiting for it since it was predicted in the FAPA newsletter over three decades ago.

From those heady days just before the 9-11 attacks a wise man presciently wrote here on PPRuNe:

What goes up, must come down. Companies such as TWA and PANAM were top of the tree in the past. Now other companies such as United and AA are at the top. However, and this is my point, noone can be too smug, as the same fate may very well befall those who are currently on top. Only two things are certain in life, death, and a hostie!!

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/2515-american-pilots-view-twa-pilot-merger-2.html#post29928