RB211, You are still missing my point.

I don't think this model can survive just because you say that a person who loves his job as much as a pilot doesn't need to be paid well. You are essentially arguing that being an airline pilot should not be considered as more than a hobby and pilots are lucky to make any money at all.

Compensation doesn't correlate to job satisfaction, it correlates to supply vs demand. The airlines have used seniority to get around supply and demand to artificially lower pay at the regionals which is why pay is so different from one end of the spectrum to the other.

I don't think anyone approaches professional flying with that attitude after working for more than a year at least. It's about the carrot. They expect that someday they will rise above it and it will be worthwhile. Airlines and bean counters have exploited this phenomenon through the seniority system without which it wouldn't be possible to the extent that pilots become "trapped" in the rat race feeling they can't quit and come back later and they can't easily jump between jobs looking for the better pay.

The exploits have simply gone too far and now it must be reeled back in for it to continue to work. Reeling in means pushing the larger regional jets back to the majors who often already own (lease) them and reducing the labor demand on the regionals.

The only other option would be to completely reconfigure the business model by eliminating seniority as I described. There is no other way for Regionals to sustain their present level and continue to operate as they do.

This is a good thing.