Again, we aren’t talking the same language. Departures are only part of the equation. ASM is the industry accepted metric. The current ratio of mainline domestic to express domestic ASM is roughly 4 to 1. Meaning if Skywest and Republic are doing 65% of the express flying (no idea if correct but seems reasonable?), then they’re providing approx 16% of the domestic ASM. Not insignificant by any means and definitely a critical part of the United business model.

On the jumpseat issue at hand, I believe a more reasoned response would have been to lump UAL pilots into the OAL bucket wrt jumpseat priority until a mutually agreed upon solution could be completed. I understand both arguments thoroughly so there is no need to rehash them here.

I also believe that weaponizing a safety document like an FOM sets an incredibly bad precedent. I can’t imagine that any POI is going to look positively on a flight ops team and leadership team that is willing to do so.