Oh, yeah I forgot the CRAF (Civil Reserve Air Fleet). A large percentage of US airliners are actually "Military Reservists"...they can be activated by the DoD to carry personnel and supplies in support of major contingency operations. When that happens they are operated normally by their company and it's pilots, but the schedules, destinations, and manifests are dictated by the DoD (which pays for it of course).

I think 1300-1400 airliners are part of this program, mostly heavies...probably ALL of the heavies in US airline service. If those went away due to cabotage the USAF would have to buy something like 800 C-5's and 500 C-17's

Deregulation is long gone, under the bridge, down the river, and out to sea...that water is halfway to antartica by now! Why waste your breath on that?

I am not trying to bash or make anyone feel bad for the sake of feeling bad. We all have to wake up to the new reality...career regional pilots (most of them) need to make their companies a comfortable, if not lucrative, place to hang out. Some folks may benefit from a little enlightenment...if other companies can avoid abusing their employees, why can't they all?