Originally Posted by Check Essential

My comment was mostly just rhetorical.
The scope hawks speak of recapturing small gauge flying. This TA proves that ALPA is not going to follow that path.
We have Embraer 190 and CRJ900 pay rates in our contract but that is just a symbolic gesture. Nobody really believes we are ever going to fly those jets.

Speculation and conjecture:
Moak and management got together during the early days of "constructive engagement" and agreed on the "two tiered industry" model back during the bankruptcy. His followers still control the Delta MEC administration. They think it is best that smaller jets be flown at separate "feeder" airlines. Management always wanted to do this but ALPA decided to officially go along.
They don't say it out loud but they believe outsourcing is good. I think the reasoning maybe goes something like this: Mainline "top end" wages and benefits are best preserved and increased by not trying to apply them to every pilot all the way down to the smallest jets. The RJs can not be flown profitably in large numbers if the pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, gate agents, etc. are making too much money. We would rather have a high paid mainline and a lower paid feeder system than to combine them all together and be forced to accept a wage and benefit structure that would support everything from RJs up to the 777s. With a two tier industry the mainline jobs will (eventually) be much more lucrative and the feeder jobs will be much more plentiful. The industry overall is larger and healthier and for individual pilots its almost like an apprenticeship system that unions have had for decades. The RJ guys serve their time and can eventually apply and move to mainline.

I don't really know, I'm just guessing and I probably didn't articulate that very well but it seems to be a possible explanation for why ALPA does what it does.
The RJ wages would be too much of a drag on the 747 wages if we try to have them all on the same pay table. The disparity would be too glaring. Better to have that $300/hour job available and not have it be directly compared to a $40/hour job.

Back to the neighborhood beer and barbecue circuit. I've gained 10 pounds this weekend. Today's festivities are at my house. Gotta fire up the grill.