This is all fantastic and great, but I don't think the mainlines will realistically take back significant scope until fuel is too expensive for any jet that seats less than 100 passengers. That would squeeze out the regionals, but I doubt it would happen for 10-15 years.

The shortage? It'll be felt, but I don't think it will be the end of the regionals. They'll just consolidate the same as the majors. Maybe we'll only have half the airlines we do now in a decade.

The economics still dictate that outsourcing to cheaper labor (us) creates more profit at the top. We're still here and will be a long time, and considering that, what motivates the majors to fly a 70% full A319 when there could be a 100% full CRJ operating with substantially cheaper pilots?

Guys, I would love to see this all happen tomorrow. But I think we're fooling ourselves on the timeline. The Delta guy was probably referring to a very slight upgauge.