Contract 2000 contained limits which were designed to be economic inducements to operate mainline jets:

• Limit planned Delta Connection Block hours as a percentage of System Block Hours.
  
• Limiting stage length
• Limiting hub bypass flying
• Limit flying between hubs
• (and no domestic code share, btw)

I've got to re check some old notes on another computer, but my recall is that the block hour limits were re-set within six months of the ratification of contract 2000. By the time serious concessionary negotiations were happening in 2003 - 2004, those limits were already gone by mutual consent.

The point being, you and I and the Company all have the same economic interest in seeing the Golden Goose live another day. Choking off the Goose's feed when times are rough hurts us as bad (or worse) than it does the Company.

Therefore - we should not build scope limits that will fail under economic duress, because that is precisely when we need these job protection provisions.

Based on economic fact, my argument is that we are foolish to accept the growth of the mainline fleet if more efficient new aircraft are allowed to be outsourced. In any event that causes contraction (plague, terrorism, merger, oil shock, war, etc ...) the economic force will strongly incentive the parking of the mainline fleet while maintaining the smaller, more efficient, capacity that has been outsourced.

The best, and only safe, scope is Delta pilots perform Delta flying, irregardless of the size of the airplane. Any divide what so ever is a flaw, a weak point, the point where the thing will fail to serve its intended purpose of providing job protection and career growth for Delta pilots.