The thing guys like EK completely miss is that the E190 is not some new, unheard-of paradigm, just because Embraer built it.

It's a 100-seat jet, like an F100, DC9-10 or -30, B717, or 737-200, except it carries more fuel and flies farther than any of those types. So when JetBlue's attrition finally exceeded management's tolerance to pay for it, the rates on that jet were magically brought up to that peer set. And USAir's crappy payrates are largely due to our original crappy rates, exacerbated by the East/West bloodbath.