Originally Posted by cadetdrivr

That's always a consideration but I'm mildly optimistic this time could be a little different.

The 50 seaters are coming up on end of leases as well as major MX---and that's not even counting those with airframes that are simply timed out. And that's not even considering the RJ pilot shortage. Pay them what they are worth and suddenly the RJ economics don't look as rosy.

Last week UAL held a big investor conference and publicly announced that the replacement of the RJs with mainline will both reduce costs and increase revenue and is the central piece of the business plan. Think about that second and reflect on everything pilots have been saying about RJs all along.

If the economy turns, the "airline" (mainline + UAX) could simply stop growing, or even shrink a bit, but the net result could still be an increase in mainline flying.