Originally Posted by Lighteningspeed

No one here is advocating selling CZ nor are we saying it will happen for sure. You are reading into things that are not there. All I am saying is that merger is highly unlikely from a business standpoint and it is more plausible that DAL will sell one of its regionals sometime in the future. I would suggest RAH is not the only possible buyer. If a sale is made, and I am not saying it will happen, it could be to a third party holding corporation or an investor unrelated to RAH or SkyWest.

The merger between XJ and CZ or Comair is more unlikely than being sold off. I am not sure why you and some people outside XJ seems to think merger between XJ and Comair is even a possibility in light of the path DAL seems to be headed. No one I have spoken to at XJ or at DAL seems to think that is likely. DAL will lose the whipsawing ability and it would be cheaper to operate XJ, CZ and Comair separately.

E175s are more comfortable for sure but your statement that during taxi E175 is more comfortable is a little absurd. I've sat in both XJ CRJ900 and CZ E175s as a passenger and the difference during taxi is none existent and if there is, it is minute and certainly not enough for DAL management to prefer one over the other. The perceptible difference comes in the bigger overhead bins and slightly wider cabin which helps during long cruise. DAL management does not seem too concerned with slight difference in comfort between CRJ9s and E175s. The bottom line is CRJ9s are more cost effective according to the DAL and it's been my experience, bottom line counts more than passenger comfort.

There are strong indications that RAH would not have been able to get away with buying Frontier and Midwest without DAL's tacit approval. RAH is not DAL's competitor. RAH is one of DAL's DCI and they will probably continue to do so until their contract expires in 2013.