I obviously haven't made it to a major yet either, but last week when dining with a few XJT guys at the Soup Nazis in Terminal C, we struck up a conversation with a CAL crew, who said they were planning on hiring 45 a month starting in October. When they left the discussion of "Do you really want to go to the new United?" came up. Bitter pilots and employees, dragged out negotiations, inept management..... We came to the realization that, while working for a company that sells it's own tickets would be nice, it just isn't worth it until the contract is settled. And I'm not saying this to flame, I have a lot of friends over on the dark side who told me flat out "Don't come here, it isn't worth it".

And I say this not to *****, but to challenge. Raise the bar for your contract, tighten scope. Us 50 seat guys know our role of DAY, GRR and SBN turns. Please recognize your role as a major airline doing the majority of the flying! 99 percent of us at the regionals wish you nothing but the best for your contract!