Originally Posted by Itsajob

You’re probably right, but United doesn’t have a shortage of applicants. The mainline pilots want to hold the line on scope, bring the flying back in house, and eliminate rather than protect much of the regional feed. If they were to buy 50 small airbus or 737’s they could park 125 of the small 50 seat jets. The existing 76 seat jets would serve the small markets and mainline would serve all hub to hub and other markets. The pilot shortage is going to make the current model of high frequency on small jets hard to maintain. I think we will see a transition to an operation with fewer flights on larger planes as a result. The mainline narrow body fleet will resemble a Southwest style operation used to feed the long haul flights. Mainline hiring will most likely increase, but each position created will be at the expense of 2 or 3 regional seats.