Originally Posted by kfahmi

Kinda makes one wonder. The SkyWest brand, at least west of the Rockies, is very well-known --I'd say it's on a par with Horizon in terms of customer recognition. Many of the EMBs fly around in Skywest colors. It makes you wonder if any regional could simply try going it alone -- selling flights as Skywest, not as AA/DL/UA/etc operated by Skywest.

How long has it been since the true regional model went away and was replaced by the subcontracting system in place today?