Originally Posted by Bartok

It's going to be hard to convince me that Delta didn't do all this on purpose, but it really doesn't matter how we got here, we are here now.

I don't think Delta plans on shrinking 9E or shutting it down. Look at what 9E is now, an ultra-streamlined Regional with capped pilot rates for the next 7 years. There isn't another Regional in the country that is as pared down as a company as Endeavor is now.

The two big weights on Endeavor's books right now are the fences and training costs and there are over 600 pilots on the payroll with over 10 years longevity. They are correcting the fences and the training will wind down one day and as soon as Delta starts hiring they can take a chunk of those 10 year plus guys and move them to Delta.

Why would they destroy the jewel of the industry, there is too much they can do as a threat alone, Delta pilots, other regionals etc.

And I've thought about Delta building Pinnacle up and selling them, but they have done something interesting here: There are no backoffice systems that are not on the Delta backbone. Endeavor is nothing more than a sub-Department of Delta now. Run by the Delta machine.

A buyer would have to add all those departments and people back into the company and it would lose some of its appeal. Not that someone wouldn't buy it, just that it doesn't look packaged to sell.