I was under the impression that any 744's that are above the current fleet count would be considered growth and could be flown by fNWA AND DAL. To me it does not really matter as I would not be senior enough to fly it until well after the fences fall down anyway.
Now, what I want to see is a 100 seater that I can hold captain on that is fenced off from everyone senior to me.
Hiya Capt,
Then you would be incorrect. Current fleet counts (or more correctly, the fleet count upon issuance of the SLI) matters for naught.
Growth and/or fleet count isn't mentioned at all in the SLI decision. It simply says that 747s and 787s (or replacements) are flown by fNWA guys, and 777s (or replacements) are flown by fDAL guys.
The only exception is if there are insufficient bidders in one or the other group. Then someone from the other side of the fence could bid in, and exercise their seniority once they were there. Say the 744 went insufficient in DTW and the #1 DAL guy bid it. He would be awarded it, and once he got the into the seat, he would bid everything else according to his seniority (schedules, vacation, whatever). The only thing is if a displacement happened, he'd be the first to get bounced.
Really, the only really tricky bit to the SLI is the replacement aircraft thing. But if no aircraft are parked, and new airplanes aren't in an all cargo configuration, then it SHOULD be pretty straight forward.
Of course, there are always wrinkles. If 787 orders are exchanged for 777s, then you can bet an argument will be made that fNWA guys should fly those airplanes. If 744s are delivered in exchange for 777 orders, then the argument will be made that fDAL guys should fly them. If C-152 all cargo variants are delivered to replace the 747-200s, there will be another argument that fNWA guys should fly them because while C-152s are not fenced directly, they are replacements for aircraft that WERE fenced.
Exchanging ORDERS for one fenced aircraft for another makes for ugly arbitrations, wealthy lawyers and upset pilots (something the company is going out of their way to avoid), so my guess is the company will do what is necessary to make it appear that any new aircraft are directly delivered from standing orders, or are made to look that they're outside of whatever orders are presently on the books until the fences expire.
Richman