Bakos v. American Airlines, Inc.

OPINION

WENDY BEETLESTONE, District Judge.

This case concerns pilot seniority integration, an intractable labor dilemma that follows the merger of two commercial airlines. Due to the paramount role of seniority in defining pilots’ job conditions— including compensation, advancement opportunities, route assignments, and vulnerability to furlough — the integration process is fraught with career-defining ramifications for each pilot involved. What’s more, integration is a zero-sum exercise; for each slot a pilot moves up, a colleague must move down'. And several practical considerations prevent a…