Originally Posted by
Erdude32
I see the current regional model collapsing. The affiliated regional will be liquidated and the assets transferred to the major partner/owner. This will result in MUCH more hiring at mainline than projected just for retirements. So the average wage WILL go up. Instead of 50% of the lift nationwide being done on a "C" scale, most all of it above a CR700 type will be at mainline at mainline wages. I think the first hint of this happening will come later this year/early next at DAL in our C2015 negotiations. We currently have CR900/Emb195 rates but they are too high. Look for those to be lowered and CR700 rates added.
All the Regional guys have to do to keep the snowball rolling is VOTE NO!!!
I too believe the regional airline model will collapse. Their demise will be hastened by strong and consistent no votes by all regional airline pilots. I've said in other posts there is absolutely no reason to take concessions right now. No one is entering the profession while everyone is leaving. There were just 805 retirements last year and 18,000 more scheduled in the next ten years. How are they possibly going to replace you at a moment's notice? Just let this play out. At some point DAL, UAL, AA et al. will not tolerate a completely unreliable regional feed and address the situation accordingly.