Objection, irrelevant.

Of course we can't ever be cheaper than them for 76 seat lift. We can't ever be cheaper than them for B717, MD88, A320 or 777 lift.

But so what?

The only reason we're having this discussion is because we allow management the ability to outsource a limited but ever increasing amount of that lift, previous hard caps notwithstanding. The real question is despite the outsource providers being able to operate anything and everything cheaper than us, always and forever, can we successfully operate a DC-9-10 sized aircraft at mainline?

Obviously we can, we just choose not to, because we value the bargaining credits and quids we get from bartering that flying to management so that they can shop to the lowest bidder in the first place. Nothing about that disgusting process has any more to do with the 90 seat "RJ" than it would the 747.

Would the company be in danger if it brought 76ers in house at a mainline cost structure, once you lopped off all the massive layers of redundancy and costs of incompetency at the fake airline regional level? Even if that lift had a net increase in cost, would the additional costs be so severe that, ammortized over the entire operation like every other plane we have is, really drag the company down in a big way? Come on. Really?