My comments have nothing to do with the flying or crew member flying experience. It's everything about that crash outside of flying that concerns me.

-Pilots sleeping in crew rooms
-Pilots making so little money ($15,000 for the FO) can't afford a hotel
-Training and failed checkride culture at the company
-That it required incredible lobbying efforts on behalf of families to get regional airlines where they are at now, and who knows for how long

Outside of Colgan
-Who knows what the condition of regional airlines maintenance departments are in, we all just assume its sound. There will be a shortage of mechanics coming up too soon if not already.

Am I supposed to agree that everything is better now? No way. In the 90's the FAA mandated that all airlines would now be under the same safety umbrella by requiring regional airlines to move away from 135. Some airlines are heading back that way. I just cannot get on board with the notion that somehow there is one level of safety between regional and major airlines.

Major airlines will continue to draw the best candidates from the regionals. That can only mean the most experienced crews fly at the majors while less experienced crews fly for the regionals. I'm not suggesting a course of action or saying this is a problem, just an argument why major airlines are operating higher than the minimum standards. There is no getting around the fact that regional airlines are a training ground for major airlines. One has to be comfortable with that fact.