Wow. 18 pages of arguing over something that is hypothetical at best. Let's set some facts straight:
1) RAH may already have a "190" payscale. Our current contract bases pay on number of seats installed. So long as any 190's that show up on property have 99 seats or less, there is no negotiation necessary. US Airways has their 190's configured for 99 seats (not saying they are coming our way, just an example).
2) Us line pilots at RAH do not know what is going on in the contract negotiations process. We do not know if the new pay section will still have our pay based on seats, or on weight, on type, or any other criteria.
3) All non-RAH pilots do not know what is going on in our contract negotiations, and do not know if our new pay section will be based on seats, weight, or type, etc.
4) No mainline carrier has relaxed scope to allow RAH to fly 190's.
5) Most every airline that could relax scope will not do so as long as they have furloughed pilots on the street, or if the threat of further furloughs still exists. NO ONE is releasing scope in the near future.
6) RAH management will decide if we pilots will fly the 190, not the other way around.
7) In this poor economy and horrible business climate, no RAH pilot is going to refuse to fly a legitimately acquired aircraft just because it is "bigger". We won't cross picket lines or fly struck work, but we won't lose our jobs over someone else's arbitrary decision on what is a mainline aircraft and what is a regional aircraft
There are so many factors lined up against RAH getting 190's. IF IF IF RAH gets 190's in the near future, they are going to be in a market that DOES NOT COMPETE with our mainline partners, who foot the bill for our company's existence. 190's for Mokulele? Maybe, but that will be all of 3 or 4 aircraft at most, and flown at full risk to RAH. 190's in a vacation/charter capacity? Possible...and in that case, the pay rates for charter aircraft do not necessarily follow those of airlines.
Many of the major airlines today were not part of the original class of long range and international haulers. US Airways was made of regional airlines. They evolved into flying A330's on transatlantic routes. Delta was flying Martin 404's around the southeast. Now look at their fleet and route structure. Airlines evolve. At some point, an occasional small airline grows into something bigger. Look at SWA. I don't know if RAH is that airline, but at some point one of these regionals WILL grow into a a competitor for you mainline carriers. Part of that evolution is acquiring larger aircraft, and sometimes, that just can't be stopped.