This is true, but CPZ is a young airline. Maybe 3 years longevity on the most senior pilot there? So I would think the cost savings are negligible in that department. I may have misinterpreted you though.

I would want to know how much it costs to train a new CPZ pilot/captain? The flow-up would result in tremendous cost I would think (wasn't there a ratio of CPZ/Mesaba required in each newhire Delta class?) to CPZ, owned by Delta. The best way around this would be to dump CPZ and Mesaba to Hulas and Pinnacle. Now Delta would no longer have to honor flow ups based on language in the LOA. Let Hulas deal with it. Also, could there be a backroom deal between Delta management and Hulas to limit the number of pilots taken from CPZ? If I'm Hulas and I acquire CPZ, I wouldn't want to get stuck holding the bag and paying for aforementioned training costs resulting from a continuation of flow.

Also, how large is the pool of applicants to Delta right now? I've heard numbers ranging from 2100 to over 10,000. Which is it? There are probably some highly qualified applicants in that pool who Delta would like to hire who might otherwise not get a chance if the flow-ups were to occur as stipulated. Were the flow-ups scheduled to interview like other applicants to Delta? Or were they simply going to be entitled to a slot on the basis of their employment/seniority at CPZ or Pinnacle?