AV8raa,
The holier than thou, men versus boys, machines versus toys, attitude is a lot to blame for the current stagnant state of the legacy carriers and your airline in particular. Crandall gave you guys the chance to keep the RJ's in house and you guys were too proud. You would have had much more control over them in-house and had a lot more jobs and growth.
The demarkation line between an "RJ" and a "mainline" aircraft is quickly disappearing. Is it the number of seats or who is operating the aircraft that determines its category?
What is the difference between a CRJ90 and one of NWA's 40 year old DC-9's?
What if a regional carrier flys mainline jets ala Independence?
What if a major flys RJ's ala JetBlue?
You guys used to fly Fokkers that many consider to be RJ's.
There are RJ's who use jetways and mainline jets using airstairs at BUR, ONT, and other places.
What's the difference between an RJ flying a long, thin, domestic routes and taking flying from the mainliners, and a 757 flying long, thin, international routes and taking flying away from the widebodies?
There are "RJ's" flying higher, faster, and with more modern equipment than many of the mainline aircraft they pass over. It wasn't that long ago that I flew in the cockpit of a Delta 727 and watched in amazement as the FE dialed in the LOM on a coffee grinder ADF.
There are also pilots making more money flying "RJ's" than other pilots flying the real McCoy. The way things are going it is entirely possible that pilots at the feeders will be earning more money and have better retirement and job security than the big boys they feed.
We are all pilots. They are all airplanes. Division is bad. If one level of safety is acceptable then one level of respect should be as well.
The RJ airline one diss's today could be the self same airline one asks for a job when one's own "real" carrier tanks.
Last edited by Widow's Son; 06-14-2005 at 04:03 PM.