Originally Posted by
Mustang1962
I'm not sure why United has this penchant for using bottom tier organizations for their regional feed. Cost? Other than SkyWest, their regionals (and all of their Aviate regionals) are absolute bottom of the barrel with regard to pay and works rules. Many had hoped that an outcome of the last pilot shortage would be the the end of these subpar outfits, but it looks like the hiring slow down has put that on pause again.
Yes, cost. Absolutely. That has been United's MO for decades when it comes to the regional game; stay diversified, keep contractors as replaceable as possible, and when the times get tough, whipsaw them against each other to save a buck. The surviving carrier has to operate on the razor-thin profit margin that they promised, and what you get is a low-quality product. The modern day CommuteAir is a watered down ExpressJet and Trans States zombie that got to survive because their management was willing to do ExpressJet's job for less and could run their operation with less chaos and turnover than Trans States.