Not just the creditors. The landscape has changed now that both BOD's and the creditors have green lighted the merger and previous to that many members of the AMR BOD were still behind Horton. Now a new BOD is being formed and a new leader is charting the course. Previously, the U board had no real say in what AA should do and neither did Parker for the most part as the merger could have fallen through. Now that's changed and a re-evaluation is prudent for all parties going forward as one POR is shelved and another becomes the future.

It will be Parker and his team that will determine how the regionals play in AA's future and that includes Eagle. The most important and perhaps only true statement right now is that they will concentrate initially on the core mainlines future makeup and then only can they determine the role of the regionals as an group and then from there individually as part of that group.

"American Airlines Group" is AA and the American Eagle BRAND, not necessarily the current American Eagle carrier or any one or more of the US Airways Express carriers. The regional decisions will have to come later, however I would assume a commitment needs to be made for RAH or not considering what they have to do to secure those aircraft and ramp up staff (if they can). Remember that Parker already has the E-190 in operation and it is VERY likely that aircraft will play a MAJOR role in AA's future especially considering its negotiated labor cost structure. Hortons plan may not have figured that aircraft as much and had a larger role for the regionals and now that may be reversed to some degree.

First things first.

Still, what IS an almost certainty coming forward for the future AA regionals is a very competitive labor cost structure, espcially pilots. I think it certain that the days of the $100-140,000/year captain flying 64-76 seat jets will come to a fast close. Considering they can put a $110,000/year captain and a $40-60/hour F/O in an E-190 at AA and spread that equal or in many cases cheaper pilot cost over and additional 25-30 seats of revenue, that will be a big deal. Yes, there will be markets and frequencies that 64-76/seat RJ's will serve in the future (along with even smaller aircraft) that are not right for 100-110 seat E-190/195 type aircraft, but the economics may favor more expansion of the bottom end aircraft at mainline vs. top end at regionals.

Additionally, it's always nice to pocket ALL the profit instead of having to carve some of that away for the feed provider's profits. I'm sure there is a lot of work to be done over the next 6 months on the POR, both mainline and regional.