I think it’s the best possible thing for our profession. You don’t have to go back in history very far to reach a point where all jet aircraft, and any aircraft over about 37 seats were flown by mainline carriers. Only about two decades.

That “regional jet” niche was filled back then with similar gauge aircraft such as the DC9-10 or DC9-30, F28 or F100, Bac 111, 737-200. Commuter airlines functioned as feeders, bringing 19-37 passengers into the hubs from small cities that couldn’t support mainline service. But if you took 19 from Altoona and 19 from Clarksburg, and 19 from Williamsport and brought them all into the hub there were plenty to fill an MD80 to Orlando.

Pilots flying those small mainline jets had a mainline seniority number with mainline compensation, benefits, retirement, and quality of life. It was a far better career path for pilots compared with outsourcing all of this narrowbody flying to carriers with substandard (at least prior to the last year or so) compensation and benefits.

When ALPA let the scope genie out of the bottle I never imagined we would be able to get it back in there. Hopefully this is that opportunity and HOPEFULLY we have learned from the mistakes of the past and never again sell scope in exchange for contractual trinkets and magic beans.