California was a contract. Hawaii possibly if the Aloha deal can get settled. I'm not suggesting that Era is going to try another Markair (although talking to ex Markair guys, it was fun while it lasted). However, AS is more concerned with their west coast operation and being 'Lower 48 airlines' instead of Alaska Airlines. Eventually the rest of the routes up here are going to fall to the T-Prop world due to economics of jet fuel. Alaska had it good until fuel finally caught up with itself and its late entrance into fuel hedging isn't going to make those 200s any cheaper to operate, let alone reskin, D-check, etc.
Quite frankly, I'm surprised PenAir didn't try to buy Era during one of the go arounds. We don't compete with each other and a larger regional airline will probably have a little better chance of persuading AS to throw a few more bones, instead of playing each of us against each other. I've noticed that PenAir doesn't want to go head-to-head or try to put Era out for good; my guess is for two reasons, 1. money isn't exactly abundant over there either (the reason for the latest furloughs instead of putting them elsewhere) and 2. public perception. I think both companies have favorable public perception and wouldn't want to alter a 'delicate' balance.