you know, i think if it wasn't for 9/11 there would be far fewer people who'd look to the regionals as a long term career type of location, as opposed to the simple stepping stone. Problem (as i see it) was that many individuals who would have made the jump ended up stagnated for an extra 6 + years, and when things at the majors finally started looking up again, these guys were senior, stable, and comfortable which in turn caused them to "stick around". Not saying it's a bad thing, nor a good thing, but the truth seems to be that we're all a bunch of dogs fighting each other over the scraps that get thrown off the table......And as long as we're in that situation, we'll have a hard time making things better, FOR ALL OF US.