I too am tired of the back and forth. The truth of the matter is that all of us on here are just pilots and no matter who your "source" is, they could just be blowing smoke you know where.
Point #1: WE KNOW NOTHING. Point #2: WE CONTROL NOTHING.
For anyone on this board to assert something as factual because they have good sources is meaningless. Those sources could be lying to you or more likely those sources really don't know. It's not like the people running any of the airlines have been performing at a rocket scientist caliber anyway.
So give it a rest. You stop saying the DC-9's are getting parked and we will stop saying that the Europe routes are over-expanded. I mean really, don't you see how silly this all is? See points #1 and #2 above, sit back relax and enjoy the ride and save your energy for when it comes time for us to get scope, pay, retirements, work rules, insurance coverage, rest periods, crew meals, layover hotels, and travel benefits back to where they should be.
Those are things you know something about and those are things you can actually do something about when the time is right. (ie. picket and strike) Unless you have some non-airline
pilot related specality, anything else you comment on that is non airline
pilot related, is uninformed and speculation. What routes a compan flies and what aircraft they use is not
pilot related.
So, are the 9's going away? They could. Is Europe overexpanded. It may be. But, do I or any of you know for sure and/or could we do anything about it one way or the other? Absolutely not.
At the very least, our comments should be prefaced with a qualifier of speculation and/or hearsay and our answers to any non-pilot related questions should be, "I don't know. I just fly 'em."
From here on out, that's what my answer will be.
New K Now