Originally Posted by
Mesabah
It was short sightedness that caused the RJ outbreak. During the good times, you received a nice bonus or funded the retirement fund in exchange for scope. However, when the bad times came, mainline pilots needed those positions that they voted away.
No, it was a change in technology that caused the RJ outbreak. It was shortsightedness not to prepare or adapt for that change.
BAE-146's and Fokker F28's were in regional systems throughout the 80's. They weren't economically viable in large numbers. That all changed in December 1993 when Comair took the first CRJ into service.
The contracts never had protections built in against something that didn't exist.