Let me see here if I get this right, because the Vatican line is no longer viable and has been shut down completely never to surface again. We don't need to get an official statement from the company do we? All we really need is just a bunch of assumptions from people who don't have all the facts or any of the facts for that matter to tell us exactly what is going on with the company during proprietory talks with clients. I am willing to bet that EI is not the only company that has not made public statements during contract negotiations. I bet that you didn't read a lot of public statements when say Ford was negotiating with the UAW.
Just another in an endless string of rumor and innuendo of which none of them amount to a hill of beans.