Respectfully lads, I beg to differ.
While pilot contracts and scope has an effect, but a small one in the long run. It's my firm belief flying will be coming back to mainline as the global economy turns and oil starts a steady march upwards. These 737 orders, coupled with the Busses and 737s on the CAL side and DALs MD90/717 take paints a picture of long run strategic plans.
As fuel goes up, flying goes on bigger planes with less frequency. The regionals go back to what they used to do with next gen 90 seaters and new tech Q400s and ATRs.
Where are the orders for the CSeries and E-Jet? It's all about fuel burn vs amount of seats. Ain't a RJ out there that can touch a all economy MAX or NEO at $200 a barrel. Ms and Pa Kettle better get used to giving their first born to ride an RJ from Podunk, Iowa in 7-10 years.