In light of the recurring rumor that a Scope trade-off is being negotiated, I thought it would be informative to pin down exactly what is wrong with our Top End Scope: JV/Codeshare/Revenue Sharing/Cabotage/Foreign Ownership/etc.

It appears that we all have a good grasp on RJ scope and that's good. However, I've noticed that pilots are a lot less clear on our upper end scope protections, or lack thereof. If we are going to be engaging in some sort of Scope trade, then we need to understand the value of the pieces in play. This way we'll be able to better evaluate any potential risk vs. reward of playing ball on "just a few more 76 seaters" or whatever the offer ends up being.

I'm the first to admit that I don't know enough to make an informed decision on that end of the Scope spectrum. With the resident experts around here (ACL, George, Gloopy, Sailing, FTB . . .) I'm hoping we can put together a plain English version of our biggest threats and what would constitute a worthwhile trade.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm loathe to accept 1 single more RJ, but if the payback is so significant on the top end that it makes good business sense to patch the "gaping holes" that I keep hearing about, then I think we owe it to ourselves to understand what we're dealing with here.