The musical chairs that we call "our flying" will continue and lord knows RAH will grab anything they can get their hands on. Not a bad approach for them considering what they've become over the last ten years. When flying shifts hands it is always at somebody's expense but thats the way the business world works. Regionals are contractors, this isn't a gentleman's club and as pilots, we're very far removed from the goings on that actually affect our individual and collective futures.

I don't blame pilots for looking greedily at somebody else's flying, there are lots of pilots who would love to get a chunk of the express flying my company does. Most of us are hungry for an upgrade and an interview with another company, which can be facilitated by additional flying. I think the underlying problem with an abundance of greed and no perspective on the issue is the potential race to the bottom that can ensue. The system finds a way to balance things out and luckily places like Mesa are not thriving.

Regionals were never designed to be career airlines, they evolved from the commuters which were purely stepping stone operations. You roll the dice and hope your regional thrives long enough to get you the magic number of PIC time to get you an interview, after that a regional has served its purpose. Just don't forget that its all cyclical. 6 years ago the top regionals were Comair, American Eagle, Air Wisconsin now look where they are. Just two years ago XJT was one of the places to be now they're fighting for their contract. It doesn't stop at the regionals, 10 years ago United was one of most desirable airlines and Continental the least. If you expect anything more than a paycheck for the work you did last week, you will eventually be disappointed by the corporation you work for.

A little humility goes a long way in this dynamic business