Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Somebody already mentioned that regional pilots don't steal mainline flying (they may steal from themselves a la gayway). Regionals only perform mainline flying which was handed to them by mainline pilots who traded their scope for something else, or scope relaxed in bankruptcy (even that is negotiated).
This might be the best paragraph in this thread. This says it all. Had the majors not budged on scope the RJs would still exist, but they'd be flown by mainline pilots on mainline seniority lists. I'd love that. The low pay sucks, but knowing that I had an ability to bid to larger aircraft, that pay proportionately better would be worth it. However, the mainline guys gave this chance away, and somehow it's our fault for flying them.
PS: TWA regularly flew DC-9s into smaller destinations like COU and SPI back in the day.