They still need to staff the current flying. Under the terms of the ASA if performance numbers aren't met then AA can reduce Eagle's flying.

I concur with the above, it sounds exactly like ExpressJet 2.0. The aircraft and associated debt will be retained by AA and must be used for AA feed while operated by Eagle unless prior approval is given by AA for the aircraft to be used for another carrier.

There is also a paragraph about labor cost and the success of Eagle being contingent upon reducing labor costs. Read into that as you wish but it means concessions and/or the senior folks bailing for AA before 2014.

As a part of the reduction in aircraft AA must give one year prior notice and they can pull 40 jets a year starting in January 2014... Seems all too convenient that our CBA is amendable in January 2013... Is AMR pulling pages from the CAL and DAL playbooks? It sure seems that way to me.