Great points on both sides, however, I'd like to throw some things into the discussion. At AWA management says we lose money on every 50 seat RJ that goes out, we break even on the 70 seaters and make money on the 90 (actually 86) seat barbie jets. They tolerate the 50 seat jets to keep market share and get the hub throughput.

I've been on vacation this month and had the chance to fly a RJ from PHX to SBA, a perfect route for an RJ. 1 + 10 enroute, 65 to 80 pax on board, high dollar market. The ride? A long, cramped tube with lavs you can hardly stand up in to pee (I am over 6 feet but my son, who is 5' 10 " says the same). My wife as usual grabs the window seat and gets claustophobia, hemmed in by me next to her and uncomfortable from the hot cabin due to the miniscule vents in the PSU. The F/As are young and barely able to speak coherntly to brief the pax. During the flight to SBA both F/As are in the back in the last row BSing while the cockpit door is left unattended save for the F/A jumpseat pulled out. Not a great move. The flightdeck crew were both young, and the flight was not the smoothest as far as control inputs could be felt quite readily. Hey, I have bad days, too but both flight were like that, as has almost every RJ I've ridden in. The kicker, when we got back to PHX (100 degree day) they pull up to the gate and shut both down before the jetway gets up and without waiting for ground power or starting the APU (a/c was thru top ABQ with less than a hour turn - APU worked in SBA). We sat there in the dark for 10 minutes before we could deplane. It got really uncomfortable on that RJ!

That's my RJ story, your milage may vary. The crews (gate to Flightdeck) are not up to mainline standards because they ARE inexperienced. I was a regional pilot once (and a freight dog before that) and I remember how much more I've learned in the last 18 years I've been at AWA than the 3 years I spent flying turboprops for a commuter as captain. Regional captains that come here have a lot to learn about flying even if they have had RJ time. It all comes with experience and the desire to improve yourself. To say they are equivalent to mainline is just not right. That 86 seat jet IS the same as NWAs DC 9 but the ride doesn't come close to being the same. Same mission but that old DC 9 is flown better and is a lot more comfortable.

I know some other regionals have crews that have been there a long time. There are still guys at my old airline flying Dash 8s for AAA that I know do a great job. Our feeder is not up to that standard because it is a sh## place to work and is the epitome of labor exploitation. That is becoming the standard in this business but we still pay better at the majors over the course of your career. A F/O at AA may make less than a 15 year Eagle guy or Comair Capt but that AA F/O will later have a career path to a 777 Capt seat. Where does the RJ guy go?