Originally Posted by
Captain Tony
What actually caused mainline flying to go to RJs was greedy senior mainline pilots selling off scope for short term gains. So look in the mirror, Pops.
I hear DAL's 717 program isn't going too well... turns out they CAN'T fill 3 mainline planes a day in 3rd tier markets after all, and the operating costs are going through the roof. The pilot positions went senior, maintenance is way more than expected, and fuel burns are much higher than they thought on those short legs.
Small RJs are history. Large RJs are here to stay.
I am sure you have all the inside scoop on the DL 717 operations
It doesn't matter where the positions went for seniority. Did you or DL think that no mainline pilot would bid an airplane to get better seniority or perhaps an upgrade? That would show you and DL mgmnt are out of touch.
As for scope, tell yourself whatever you need to make yourself feel good. RJ's were sold as additional lift versus wholesale replacement in markets.
If the RJ flying was known to be undesirable why did you take the job? If guys like you had said no or asked for better wages to fly those RJ's we would not be having this debate. You had the chance to say NO yourself, yet you took those jobs with the intent of getting one of the mainline jobs you were helping eliminate. I suspect if we went back to 2002-2008 there would not be too many guys like you complaining about your jobs as you saw massive growth. You weren't blaming the mainline pilots for your upgrades back then.