BINGO !!!

Eagle will be the next carrier to fly 79-seat airliners for peanuts. Yes, they WILL get some of those jets and while it may be palatable for those very senior who don't plan on leaving, for the majority it means many of them will still be there in 10 years and for all intents and purposes chained to that carrier for their careers. At that point, they'll be too old and be passed up for younger, cheaper pilots at the majors who don't need full family health care or expensive health issues.

The worst part (as if that isn't bad enough) is that virtually all of the majors will have whipsaw models in place whereby each of these regional carriers flying a portion of that majors feeder needs will have short-term contracts that must be rebid and thus compensation for these pilots will be continuously stagnant. Considering inflation and skyrocketing health care, the earning power for most will actually decline year-over-year.

The shininess of a CRJ-900 or E-175 will wear off quickly, especially since there will be fewer escape ropes to the majors, stagnation will occur. The next down cycle will see the music stop and the inevitable lack of available chairs for all and that's at both the majors and regionals.

The question for each pilot is, "where will YOU be in that conga line when the music DOES stop again ?".