Originally Posted by AerChungus

I don't see any business incentive to merge when you could whipsaw the two against each other. CommuteAir has a near-operational 170 training program. Mesa and CommuteAir management get pulled into a conference with SK and get asked who can fly the 170 for cheaper. If it's Mesa, CommuteAir goes out of business, the 145 dies, and their pilots get a "preferential interview" at Mesa. If it's CommuteAir, the 145 lives on and the 170s at Mesa move over to CommuteAir and Mesa's pilots get to reinterview. Pilots from the losing side start over at year one pay and United saves the administrative costs from orchestrating a merger by letting one management team survive while the other one goes to bankruptcy court. In the meantime, mainline A319s and 737s pick up the slack for the year or two it takes to get the surviving regional back. Not what I want, but just my two cents.