SWA and SWA FA sued over spilled hot tea

[Bigey]

Mike, there are many legal protections for airline employees in a merger. For starters, there is our labor contracts. Our CBA contains a long list of merger protections. In addition, after the TWA/AMR debacle, Senators McCaskill and Bond got legislation through Congress which was signed by the president that provided statutory protection for employees involved in mergers, to prevent another fiasco like what happened to the TWA pilots. Of course, those protections have to be enforced, so if your MEC or pilot group is so scared of their own shadow that they won't fight to defend themselves, then all of the protections in the world won't help.



No, it was really more an issue of fear. They were scared to death that SWA management would carry through on their threats to put us out of work, despite all of our legal protections.

Todd, can it still be classified as a merger despite SWA buying Airtran? I hear Airtran guys all talking about their loss in seniority this and that. While I certainly feel compassionate to the fact that people got shifted around, wheres the return compassion for the SWA guy losing his seniority too?

Further, are there legal protections set up from having Southwest airlines letting go of all the Airtran employees and just taking their routes/planes? Can Guadalupe Holdings come into play for that? If so, then isn't just maintaining a job the most important part? If not, why did we just not merge companies instead of spending billions of dollars to buy Airtran? Legitimate question, not trying to start something!

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Todd, can it still be classified as a merger despite SWA buying Airtran?

Absolutely. Every merger is an acquisition. Remember, Delta bought Northwest. Yet it was still a merger. This case is no different, no matter how badly SWAPA wants to pretend it is.

I hear Airtran guys all talking about their loss in seniority this and that. While I certainly feel compassionate to the fact that people got shifted around, wheres the return compassion for the SWA guy losing his seniority too?

The number of SWAPA pilots who actually lost relative seniority can be counted in the dozens. It happened to virtually no one. AirTran pilots took massive hits in relative seniority, and the SWAPA pilots reaped the rewards. Peak loss of relative seniority for AirTran pilots was at about 32%. For the few SWAPA pilots who actually lost any relative seniority, it was around 1-2%, and they were all near the bottom of the list to start with.

Further, are there legal protections set up from having Southwest airlines letting go of all the Airtran employees and just taking their routes/planes?

Absolutely. Our CBA was designed to prevent exactly that.

Can Guadalupe Holdings come into play for that?

Guadalupe Holdings doesn't even exist anymore. It ceased to exist in May 2011, long before the SLI fight was even in high gear. AirTran is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines. There is no intermediary company.

If not, why did we just not merge companies instead of spending billions of dollars to buy Airtran?

Every merger involves an acquisition. There has to be an acquiring company. And as far as spending billions, Southwest didn't. The whole transaction cost them barely anything. It was really just assumption of debt.