Originally Posted by
PNWFlyer
Once again, OO can't fly larger aircraft because of their scope agreements with the other airlines that have scope.
True. But that doesn't mean some other regional couldn't do it. But probably not today...
Most big regionals are probably bound by the same scope as OO. Bottom feeders suck, in all respects. While AAG might find a mesa to do it, how are they going to staff it better than QX? And does AAG really want their customers (excuse me, guests), exposed to the likes of that?
And nobody will be starting up any clean-slate regionals any time soon... way too cost prohibitive in this environment, between startup costs and the fact that you would NOT benefit from the usual zero-longevity labor costs... in order to attract pilots to a startup regional today, you would have to pay really, really big bucks to attract qualified PICs from other regionals. Those qualified PICs are either staying where they're at for QOL, or applying to legacies. There's no pool of experienced furloughed dudes/dudettes to man a startup right now.
But this will not always be the case... scope should not be taken lightly long-term.