Originally Posted by piloto2

My guess is that they won't completely eliminate all 50 seat flying, but there will be a significant reduction. Probably 50% or more of the 50 seat fleet gets retired. Suppose it's 2/3 that gets eliminated. That would fall in line with keeping the 145XRs and maybe the 550s that have already been converted. I think that would be about 95 aircraft on the 145 side of the equation. The "consolidation" wouldn't have to include the crews, unfortunately. Just the portion of the routes that United continued to fly that were previously farmed out to multiple carriers would be consolidated. UAL already did that with Trans States aircraft and the routes they had been flying. Some of the Trans States pilots did come over, but it was at the bottom of another regional's seniority list. Which regional would remain UAL's 50 seat operator might be the big question. Would they favor one that they already hive a financial stake in or would they possibly keep two around for some competition (whipsaw)?