That makes sense. I agree completely that the bench should be deeper. I'd like to see term limits as a device to ensure new blood is required, and cycled through.

As for your point about regional guys coming up, I hope they don't get so wrapped-up around the relationship between mainline and regionals, that they lose track of the forest and the trees.

I tend to think the regional model is broken, and pilot recruitment issues will only accelerate the inevitable end. I suspect that flying will continue to migrate home naturally, and I would be nervous about guys trying to purchase it. When it gets to the point where management recognizes it, and shrinks the outsourced portion on their own, and doesn't even use the allotted 50-seaters, then we can negotiate to lock in the new numbers.

I'm OK with the Scope trade in C2012, but it's now more and more obvious that up-gaging, and transferring flying to mainline, is a logical process, driven by economics. Let's be patient, not yield anything on the RJ side, and focus on the large-gauge end of the outsourcing spectrum.