Originally Posted by
HercDriver130
The high and mighty in this industry need to get over the moniker "regional"....Nearly all of the companies flying JETS today fly the breadth of this country not to mention operations into Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
There was a time NOT in the far distant past when so called legacy carriers flew airplanes smaller than those these JET carriers fly today. GET OVER it... the business is changing and has been and will continue to do so well into the future.
As for SWA taking on a partner for smaller market flying.....doesnt seem plausible or to fit their model of what has been a success for them.
The word "Regional" has been one of my pet peeves since I got into this business 11+ years ago. There is nothing 'regional' about these jets and they have gotten bigger and better and are still called RJs. The EMB-190 is no 'Regional Jet' any more than a 737 or DC-9 is an RJ.
I fly a CRJ-200 and from the flight deck door forward there ain't much different in how it's operated over how any other jet is operated. And what kind of 'regional' flying goes from major city pairings like IAD-ATL and IAD-BOS and ORD-PIT, etc.
When I first got into this it was used to keep salaries lower and some guys attempted to even further the myth that there was some kind of ability difference between 'Regional pilots' and 'Mainline' pilots.
I digress. It all goes back to some mainline pilot groups having conceded larger and larger jets to outsourcing contracters, which is what the "Regional Airlines" are. Admittedly, it was done largely under duress of the faux sham bankruptcies. But it was done nonetheless.
To get back to the original point though, I can't really see SWA going with the EMB-190. Could be wrong. But their business model seems very strong as it is and changing that seems like a very risky proposition. Also, if for some reason they decide to go with another fleet type all that flying must be kept in house and not contracted out. That's exactly how the bar has been lowered.
I doubt they would even attempt to contract it out though.