Put youself in the place of NWA management (I know it's hard to do.) who needs to keep feeding the hubs with pax. One one side there is a Compass with too many highly qualified pilots (good people) and too few aircraft. It's costing a fortune to keep it operating. Costs , especially wages, are being kept to a minimum ignoring promises made. Morale is in the pits. There is indecision on the future corporate status because of ALPA, Scope, legal agreements, etc. They are a "house of cards" waiting to collapse. Based in VA , all their training, HRO, operations "infrastructure" is in a Mesaba MSP HQ facility. They have no sense of IDENTITY.

On the other side is Mesaba with lots of aircraft, more coming and too few pilots - especially those qualifed for Captain upgrade. They are established, have a reputation for treating people well (especially since leaving MAIR) and appear to have a bright future. Morale is high. Employees, especially the pilot group, have a great sense of IDENTITY. There is a well established infastructure (HRO, Training, OPS) and Mesaba has "been around the block for a long time."

Getting back to the problem: crunch time is approaching. NWA owns one regional with too many aircraft and too few pilots (especially Captain qualified) and one with too many highly qualified pilots and too few aircraft. The solution seems too simple and probably is.

One regional has to be kept fully staffed and operating. Aircraft delivery rates are fixed. Bringing Compass "up to speed" will be a long process and time is running out on Mesaba pilot staffing. IMHO (which changes each day based on new events) the following "should" occur.

Compass has outlived its usefulness as a "whipsaw."

1. Qualified Compass pilots should be offered "Mesaba street Captain" SAAB positions when the need becomes apparent. Mesaba must maintain full pilot staffing with more CRJs (200 and 900) on the way. Those not qualified for Captain should be offered FO positions (starting at the bottom).

2. Compass should be merged with Mesaba and the Management, HRO, Training, Ops, etc. redundancy eliminated.

3. Now here is the really controversial one. Existing Compass aircraft and future delivery positions (including the E simulator about to be installed in the Mesaba training center) should be sold.

4. Mesaba should exercise their option and order more CRJ900s. NWA has to keep one regional alive and standardize the fleet.

But then this is only my humble opinion; I have no influence on the process. What would an "old timer" living on a sailboat in Key West know ? Life is good - except it's hurricane season.

BTW: In case any of you are there, my wife and I will be attending the 12th Air Commando Squadron reunion at the AF Museum in Dayton this weekend.