Nicolau Arbitration Award - Leonidas

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within the period of the restriction on pilots bidding into the existing
international wide-body aircraft (A330 and 8767), any restrictions with
respect to the bidding for positions in those aircraft would be made null
and void on the date of implementation of the change. US Airways pilots
entitled to bid those positions have already been protected for two years.
A further fence of four years from the date of this Award is based on
attrition projected on Age 60 retirement. If the age limit were raised to
65 and becomes effective prior to the expiration of the condition and
restriction in 2011, there seems little fairness in its continuance.
In the exercise of caution, we have also constructed the list on a
no-growth basis, using the fleet as it existed on January 1, 2007, and
giving no weight to pre-merger orders except to the extent that any
such additions were in place as of January 1, 2007. Our judgment as to
the fleet is based, not on asserted expectations as both sides urged,
but on reality. Particularly in this day and age, with airline instability a
way of life, it makes little sense to rely on pre-merger projections. This
is especially the case here when the financial picture of both airlines
was less than optimum. A January 1, 2007 list also is a closer
reflection of reality on the merged airline.
As to staffing, we have, for a variety of reasons, used the jobs
each group brought to the merger as amended by the shifts that
occurred as of January 1, 2007.