There are a couple of problems with this:

1. He's running for office, so this could be an empty promise. (see Every politician ever elected.)

2. Contract language is a 2-way street, and if management is determined not to include something, they won't. Further, Heppner isn't about to ask for a sacrifice by the major airline pilots to enhance the regionals (though I believe that's what should happen).

3. ALPA can't do anything about SkyWest (non-union) and Republic (IBT).

4. As long as regional MEC's are willing/forced to undercut each other, this isn't going to change.

5. As long as pilots continue to show up in regional classes for very low wages, this isn't going to change.

6. As long as pilots that are furloughed from one regional continue to recycle at the bottom of the list--and pay scale--at another regional, this isn't going to change.

7. This isn't going to change until the regionals are suffering a mass shortage of pilots, a day which I think is coming because of retirements/attrition and the lack of new pilots in the training pipeline.