Mesa is asking AA about it only to keep Mesa flying. AA is scoped out. With the 175s being brought on property, AA either needs more narrowbodies (737 max, 190 retirements, awkward...), or park older large RJs 1 for 1. When push comes to shove, the economics and dismal performance of Mesa points to Mesa being the next to lose AA flying. Just like GoJet, this looks like a hail mary to keep flying by reclassifying their aircraft. Taking 14 seats off of a 79 seat aircraft is a big hit to revenue, and we all know that the bean counters run the show at AAG.