AS might just barely get away with avoiding that. Maybe. Unlike regionals I think they can still attract and retain some pilots... if they really put their mind to to it.

They'd have to retreat to the PNW, and the managers would need serious top cover from the BOD. Not sure how far the board will go along. Other big problem is share price and shareholders... if it gets too low and the BOD doesn't address it, you could get activism or the shareholders would just sell to the highest bidder. In the later case managers would be on the receiving end of an uncoordinated acquisition... ie unemployed. So I don't think the company can view retreat as a conservative low-risk fallback position, more like a last resort. Considering their fundamental priority has to be their own job security.