Unlike many of us who either went into the military or did the ramp rat, fueling airplanes while not instructing, part 135 single pilot freight job these kids honestly believe that because some hustler sold them on the idea that spending over $50,000 for 8 weeks in a simulator qualifies you for a job flying a CRJ and makes you an airline pilot. Not all but some of the guys on the regional thread honestly believe that the company and society owes this to them because of their sacrifices.

I think that this is a prime example of what "Sully" has mentioned on several talk shows the last few days promoting his book that there unfortunately appears to be, for the most part, a direct relationship between the level of professionalism of the flight crews today and their level of experience in this field.

Depending on the results of the joint bill and how it is worded, I think that over the next few years things may become very fluid and dynamic within our industry. Not only for the regionals but also legacy/major carriers which use regional airlines to provide them feed.

The series of unfortunate accidents over the past few years by their respective regional partners has exposed the mainline companies to what some are quietly stipulating as too much financial culpability for the amount of services they are contracted to perform. With no disrespect to the victims of Colgan intended, Delta, Continental, and the rest of the members of Sky Team have taken a huge hit it in the shorts concerning their financial liability and responsibility (paying of both explicit and nonexplicit damages) over this accident.