Ah, the old pilot shortage story. This one is as old as Bob Hoover. Does anybody remember a few years ago when the regionals were scrambling to fill seats? There were over 10,000 furloughed FAR121 pilots on the streets at that time. None of them applied to swing gear on a Saab or CRJ900. Why not? They couldn't afford it. The only true shortage was finding pilots willing to fly for $21,000/year. From what I'm seeing, mainline companies will continue to replace mainline aircraft with 70/90 seaters at RJ pay. There will be some hiring - there has to be, but I seriously doubt it will be a huge wave. And I'm still sure we haven't seen the end of consolidation and more importantly the true effects that will follow in the years to come. Just my $0.02.