That was a well written letter. I think the best part is that you did not throw the regional pilots under the bus; you spoke on behalf of the pilot profession as a whole. I feel like there are alot of people with your experience level who have a tendency to criticize the regionals as inexperienced and underqualified. Believe me there are some underqualified pilots out there, but I feel they are in the minority at this point.

As far as regulation goes, this industry is already pretty highly regulated, in a sense. Alot of airports are slot controlled, lack gate space and monitored by the FAA. I believe in free market capitalism but the airline industry is the furthest thing from a free market. There are huge barriers to entry, high startup costs, and alot of restrictions mentioned earlier. I think regulation would be a good idea in this market.

I guess my question is to what extent should this industry be regulated? Will it translate to higher pay for pilots or higher profit margins for shareholders? Would it be better to regulate pilot pay instead, possibly on a similar pay scale to military pay?