You talking merger? Other than the 50ish Airbus the other half of their fleet is aged MDs... I guess buying them would solve the manpower issue for awhile if they park all the old metal. Possible but my guess highly unlikely.

I'm putting my money on a slow down due to the uncertainty of our fleet... mgmt wants more RJs... pilots don't. If mgmt gets what they want (we sell out) then hiring (mainline growth) will slow drastically... if pilots win then hiring flood gates will open.