Originally Posted by
fire2flyer
On the business side, wouldn't the major airlines want to keep the regional guys staffed. That is cheaper and cost effective seat miles for the major airlines. If they depleat the crews from the smaller guys, wouldn't that hurt them.... especially if they hire so many from the smaller guys that flights continue to cancel and get worse. So if they hire from a flight school, they also keep the smaller guys staffed. I don't like it... But it seems like it could be part of the business plan. Speculation of course.
Keep the regionals staffed? Different companies, and management wants to keep it that way.
Also, the main reason we are moving away from express flying the short haul, is economics. They are no longer competitive on costs--maybe never were. Many of us knew that from the beginning, but it became fashionable to outsource everything they could, regardless of costs.
Costs have finally taken over. It's better to fly a guppy on the route, than a 50 seat RJ. And the guppy takes up the same runway space and slots as an RJ.