standards for airmanship, professionalism, and safety should be "extra" high at the wholly owned carriers, since there isn't really any future screening process before moving to bigger metal with 100s of passengers.

The possibility of getting fired for poor piloting incentivizes staying sharp. "The union will protect me" and "I never have to interview again" lets people get lazy if they want.

I'm sure it's not that simple, but does "flow" allow pilots to get complacent ?