I think a lot of DL pilots think their new contact, comair, 9E, and Regional Elite are some kind of grand altruistic scheme to in-source jobs and have a higher quality product (ala Southwest.)

Sadly this isn't true. The vast majority of RE stations will be turned over to 3rd party companies with employees would don't care about your customers anymore than it requires for them to keep their meager job. The CRJ200's would be going away contract or not, and they continue to source large RJ flying to the most low-quality, cheap lift they can find.