some thoughts:

1. what happened to ONE LEVEL OF SAFETY-- why is the talk of regional airlines only getting a 12 hour duty day- it shoudl be the same for all
2. the above rule will make airlines ****ed off and moaning and groaning and of course they would want to be able to fly more than 8hrs in a duty period to cx the pilots required for the 12 hr future duty rule- so manpower evens out-- IE manpower neutral.

3. did you know that the NTSB has made over 450 recommendations that the FAA has yet to propose and have only implemented about 12 items-- pretty freaking sad if you ask me--- pilots flying on these antiquated rules, the FAA is at as much fault as most of the pilots for not makeing things happen sooner.

4. i seriously doubt things will change--- they havent for almost 60 years and i doubt they will start soon.

5. personally, i think they should adopt the european rules-- they must be doing something right over there- they are living the dream.

6. anti trust immunity, outsourcing flying at the major airline level, downsizing, the huge gap b/w 70 seaters and the smallest mainline aircraft-- things are only going to get more interesting.

SKIPPY-- no tholding my breath