It looks like this merger will affect more than just wholly owned regionals but others as well. What the new DAL will do with Comair is a big unknown, but it is very possible from what Anderson has been saying for the past year, they will reduce the number of regionals flying for them and distribute the domestic flying among fewer regionals before the European carriers such as Air France and Lufthansa or British Airways tries to dig themselves in for the share of the US domestic market.

Like Superpilot said, it looks like Mesaba and Compass may be slated to pick up some of that flying, and they are already doing it. Mesaba Compass Holding Corporation has already been formed. After the merger though, I seriously doubt the current management team for the Compass remaining intact. Anderson will probably replace both the Mesaba and Compass top management. Problem with Compass is their most senior pilot was hired in 2007. This according to a senior NWA CA I talked to has a host of problems with insurance when flying into special airports.

Which regional will fare OK and which ones will fade away is still a speculation at best but I believe a rough forecast can be made based on currently available information. I am not going to name which regionals looks like will be minimized for obvious reasons and it would not do any good for anyone at this point.

I do agree that the smaller RJs such as E135s, E145s and CRJ200s being phased out by the new DAL because they are no longer economically viable when the barrel of oil is $115 and projected to climb higher. A big and touchy subject on most people's mind is the scope clause. I hope the scope clause remains intact but I don't know if it will or not.