There are too many conversations about the size, route length and customer satisfaction of the RJs. Leave that stuff to marketing. What counts is who flys them and how much they get paid.

The problem with ALPA has never been RJs it has been the, "we want to fly big jets" syndrome while we thump our chests. RJs and Q400s are airplanes which carry people and or freight and thus deserve professional pilots who get paid a professional rates. Additionally the pilots also deserve the quality training of us "big boys" and adequate rest and time off for their personal lives. This is what "scope" should be about.

Now I have said for over twenty years the mentality of who owns airplanes (buy and fly) is ridiculous in today's modern financing world. I would bet United Airlines actually owns very few airplanes and capital leases most of them. So my thoughts have always been United branded airplanes, no matter what size, need to be flown by United pilots who are covered under the United Pilot contract.

Scope can be so clean and simple, United provides the pilots who fly the airplanes and let Skywest or whoever take the financial risk of ownership.

But we have to keep the big jets in the big pay so it will never happen.

Just rambling tonight.