Wow I can see that this thread has gotten interesting in the couple days that I have been on my trip.... As 9E being done I would say we are far from it. Yes we have parked 15 jets in the past but rumor has it they're comming back... Also the aircraft we parked were all our older ones.... Second there are no 40 seat jets at 9E there are 50 seaters some of which had some seats take out to meet mainline scope clauses however no true 40 seaters... As for the efficiency well look at CHQ and X-jet flying 135's you cant tell me that a 35 seat Jungle Trash is efficient either so thats a real week arguement. Also the 44 seat aircraft are slowly being cycled through MX and being converted back to 50. As for NWA looking for additional regionals well, yes there is and has been an RFP out for a long time now and the results were supposed to be in several months ago.... but never came. Bottom line the only carrier that operates 50 seaters cheaper than we do is Mesaba and they only have two aircraft and it looks like there might be a strike very near in their future (sadly the judge just voided their contract). But bottom line 9E is very far from being half submerged.... As for NWA itself I think they have bigger things to worry about such as what to do about their FA's and their current situation. As for why 9E has no other regional business... very simple back when NWA bought Express 1 (now pinnacle) part of the agreement was that we were not allowed to seek out any other ASA's.... So bottom line 9E is not allowed to fly for any other major.... The fix to that is the second certificate that management has been working on for the last several years that will allow a seperate regional owned by 9E to seek out other business....