Well AA couldn't sell eagle so the next best thing would be to grow them. Get them flying longer routes with bigger airplanes. It's just an evolution of regional airlines of the past.
Beech 1900 to
Crj 200 to
Crj 700 to
Crj 900 to
Crj 1000.

It's gonna happen. AA pilots maybe able to hold ground on scope but I put that at about a 10% chance.