Seriously... cry me a river. Prior troubles have NOTHING to do with the way an arbitrator merged seniority. Post merger, the outlook for actually maintaining a job is better for both sides.

The pilots can complain about all of the issues you mentioned - they're valid to an extent; however, they have ZERO to do with merging seniority. If the pilots put half as much effort into "straightening out" their union as they do into screwing the company and their passengers (you know, that pesky self-loading cargo that pays their salaries) they might actually get somewhere.

US East seniority isn't worth half of what the same seniority is on almost any other airline. That's reality, and the pilots can't change it without starting over at the bottom of the list elsewhere. The pilots have two choices - 1) Tank the airline and start over with no seniority elsewhere, or 2) Suck it up and get the best contract they can - heck, why not tie options to the pilots to options for execs? If the execs get a mountain of options, so would the pilots. Voila - everyone gets their share.

When was the last time a union tried to tie stock options, which is where "exorbitant" exec comp comes from, to their pay? Remember, most execs at airlines don't bring home huge cash paychecks. They get options, which in the case of the sand castle have paid nicely - and have almost no cash cost to the company.