This is my thought exactly, and it is the route that makes the most sense to me. Look at this portion of jsled's original article post and it points right to the idea of an independent comapny with AA getting reduced rate feed.

"said AMR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. "We have worked hard over the years to build a regional airline that is fully capable of standing on its own and is well positioned to pursue growth opportunities outside of the AMR corporate structure."

Arpey noted that, in addition to AMR having put in place an independent American Eagle management structure, with a chief executive officer and chief financial officer, American Eagle also has a well-formed operational structure and organization and has produced independently audited financial results for the past several years. Earlier this year, American and American Eagle entered into a new regional flying agreement between the airlines that reflects market-based rates, which ensures that American continues to have access to quality feed on competitive terms. Arpey added that AMR's divestiture of American Eagle and the regional airline's ability to provide quality feed at competitive rates to other carriers, as well as American, will better position American Eagle to compete for new customers and growth opportunities in the future."

This will allow for Eagle to grow, which at the present time it cannot seem to do without permission from the mainline. May not be a bad thing for the pilot group either because with expansion comes upward movement. I may be way off base...after all, I'm not an airline guy.