ACR TAXIES BTWN LGT ON PUSHBACK AND THE GATE FROM WHICH HE JUST DEPARTED. LGT CAPT NOT HAPPY.

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AFTER LNDG ROLLOUT ON RWY 27; TWR DIRECTED US TO EXIT AT TXWY B5 TO THE GATE; CONTACT GND CLR OF RWY. CONTACTED GND; WERE TOLD TO HOLD SHORT OF TXWY B PARALLEL TO ALLOW A COMMUTER EBOUND ON TXWY B TO PASS; THEN AFTER ACR LGT PUSHED OFF GATE #X; WE WERE CLRED 'TO THE GATE.' AFTER THE COMMUTER PASSED US EBOUND; IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE LGT WAS PUSHING BACK INTO THE RAMP BTWN BOTH E TERMINAL SATELLITES AND WAS BLOCKING OUR PATH TO GATE Y. I ACKNOWLEDGED THE 'CLRED TO GATE' CALL AND PROCEEDED WITH THE AFTER LNDG CHKLIST AND FLOW HEAD DOWN. I SOON WAS AWARE WE WERE NOT STOPPING AND LOOKED UP JUST IN TIME TO REALIZE MY CAPT WAS GOING TO TAXI IN FRONT OF THE LGT; BTWN HIS PUSHBACK TUG AND HIS GATE #X. BEING CAUGHT BY SURPRISE; I ONLY HAD TIME TO QUICKLY CLR OUR WING AREA AND MONITOR THE ACR TUG AND CREW MAN FOR WING TIP CLRNC. MY CAPT BLOCKED INTO GATE Y AND BEGINNING TO UNSTRAP; APPARENTLY DID NOT HEAR THE ACR CAPT'S PROTESTS TO SAN DIEGO GND. STILL SOMEWHAT IN A STATE OF SURPRISE; I TOLD MY CAPT 'YOU'RE GETTING YOUR ASS CHEWED OUT ON GND; MAYBE YOU'D LIKE TO HEAR THIS;' AND TURNED ON THE OVERHEAD SPEAKER. AFTER HEARING THE ACR CAPT'S PROTESTS; MY CAPT LOOKED AT ME WITH GENUINE SURPRISE AND ASKED 'WHAT'S HIS PROB; IT DIDN'T LOOK CLOSE TO ME;' DIDN'T YOU THINK WE HAD PLENTY OF ROOM?' AT THAT POINT I RESPONDED; 'WELL; WE HAD ROOM BUT I DON'T THINK I'D HAVE DONE THAT. I DON'T THINK TAXIING BTWN A PUSHBACK AND HIS JETWAY IS WHAT WE NEED TO BE DOING; THERE ARE LETTERS OUT ON THAT!' MY CAPT LOOKED TAKEN ABACK FOR THE FIRST TIME. I TRIED TO SMOOTH THINGS OVER WITH GND CTL ON A DISCRETE FREQ; BUT AT THE END OF THE CONVERSATION THE ACR CREW; WHO WERE EAVESDROPPING ON THE CONVERSATION; BROKE IN AND SAID; 'WELL; YOU CAN EXPECT A LETTER ON THIS ONE!' THEN ALL LEFT THE FREQ. IT'S MY BELIEF MY CAPT WAS SO CONCERNED WITH 'ON-TIME ARR' THAT HE GOT TUNNEL VISION; SAW A GAP AND DROVE THROUGH IT. ALSO; IT IS COMMON AT OUR COMPANY FOR 1 COMPANY ACFT TO PUSH OFF A GATE AND ANOTHER COMPANY ACFT TO PULL RIGHT INTO THE SAME GATE BEFORE THE FIRST TUG IS UNHOOKED. DUE TO TIGHT SCHEDULING AND RAPID TURNAROUND TIMES; THIS IS ACTUALLY QUITE COMMON. SO COMMON IN FACT THAT I THINK MY CAPT MOMENTARILY WENT 'COLOR BLIND' AND DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THAT ACR PROBABLY DIDN'T SHARE SIMILAR ENTHUSIASM FOR THIS KIND OF GND OP. AT NO TIME WAS THERE A 'CLOSE CLRNC' PROB AS WE HAD AT LEAST 20-35 FT CLRNC OFF BOTH WINGS. (I'D BET THE ACR CAPT SAW IT DIFFERENTLY FROM HIS POINT; HOWEVER; JUDGING FROM HIS REACTION). IN FACT; THE ACR CONTRIBUTED TO THE PERCEPTION PROB BY PUSHING BACK SO FAR; ALMOST WITH HIS MAIN GEAR ON THE PARALLEL TXWY; ESTIMATED BY ME AT APPROX 50 YARDS OFF HIS GATE. I CAN SEE WHERE MY CAPT; AS HE STATED LATER; THOUGHT ACR WAS INTENTIONALLY PUSHING BACK FAR ENOUGH TO 'LET US PASS IN FRONT.' BUT IN LIGHT OF THE CURRENT COMPETITIVE MENTALITY IN THE DOMESTIC AIRLINE INDUSTRY BTWN 'NO-FRILLS CARRIERS' AND THE BIG 3; I SUGGESTED TO MY CAPT THAT I DOUBTED AN ACR CAPT WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP OUR COMPANY FLC GET TO THEIR GATE ON TIME. ESPECIALLY SINCE THE CEO AT ACR HAS BEEN TELLING ALL HIS UNION PLTS FOR MONTHS THAT OUR COMPANY IS GOING TO FORCE PAY CUTS AND LAYOFFS AT ACR. I SUSPECT THE ANGER WILL WORSEN.