falconvalley
Absentee Dad of the OOTSK, Runner, Cat Frustrator
Those who marry the phrase "burn it down" and "full back pay" are naive. They don't have any experience to back that declaration and it's effectiveness and cannot see the difference between the "Street Theater" of negotiations and the actual outcome of negotiations. They are emotionally parroting what they have heard. While there are examples of how pilot group behavior does have an impact on negotiations, the actual negotiating is done by representatives, as most of us know. Both sides would be crazy to not start with the Pipe Dream and work from there. You could pick a number outside of what's reasonably attainable but how do you calculate that number without knowing all the opponent's information and knowing all the opponent's strategy. The Pipe Dream is a move that covers all of what's possible. You never know. You might catch some good timing and get what you want or closer to what you want than you thought you could attain. Good negotiators can separate their emotions from the game and move forward.
It is notable that perhaps both sides of our negotiations perhaps had the type of personality that let offers drive their emotions and maybe that did have an effect on the communication. But, how much?
I think all of this is just a matter of BB letting the line go out a little too far, IMO. We could have reached a better deal a while ago. Maybe he thought we didn't need to have anything else to compete for pilots at this point or assumed we would be done by now or does not plan on competing. Either way, we have not yet reached a deal and because of the way the current folks follow the RLA, we have to rely on the outside environment, not the skills of our negotiation team. All they need to do is ask for equal or better than what we can get. What that number is, is a matter of opinion and that's it.
