I'm just wondering how you get "labor concessions" out of RJ drivers making peanuts and living on the same.

The RJ industry is facing very serious survival challenges in the long run and it's all driven by one primary factor and that is the cost of petroleum. No matter how one angles on the sudden about face in this business, you'll come back to fuel prices in the long range strategic plans the majors are making for survival in the $150+ per barrel oil era.

In the end they'll be a handful of RJ operators left, albeit much larger and consolidated just like the majors. Folks this is a Darwinistic business process that cannot be stopped and has been going on through peaks and troughs for decades. This is The Airline Industry. Lions, tigers and bears oh my.