Ummm, mainline carriers sell their own tickets... Almost all regionals operate on a fee for departure basis. The are 2 reasons a mainline carrier sells its product below cost: 1) They are trying to gain or protect market share (NWA flying 757s from Fargo, ND to Las Vegas) and 2) Their business plan is fundamentally flawed and they are not able to accurately and effectively manage yeild (Independence Air with their 106% break even load factor). You don't need me to tell you how well those endeavors worked out. If regional A says to mainline B "hey guys, the bare bones, absolute minimum cost to us is $600 per block hour but we are willing to charge you $400 per block hour just to have the business." If regional A is flying 40,000 block hours per month and losing $200 per block hour then the VERY BEST that airline can do is LOSE almost $100 million per year. AT THE VERY BEST!!! How long do you think a board of directors and a shareholder group are willing to stand for that? Despite popular belief, airlines do NOT print their own money. You can't pay CEOs, managers, board member fees all the way down to the lav dumber with red ink.

And hatetobreakit2u, what do you care who the cheapest regional is? That should be at the bottom of list just after which airline's crewroom has the most comfortable chairs. You should be more concerned with with upgrade time, QOL, pay, work rules, company fundamentals, etc. If you think Mesa is the best place to get quick PIC I think you may be in for a surprise.