CO has flown from DAL to IAH for years using 50 seat RJ's and they do quite well. When they first started it, SWA had flights that went into IAH and after a few years they pulled out and only do HOU now. I think something into MEM or ATL would do OK since they are not competing with an SWA non-stop.

**Flights operated by Delta Connection carrier Pinnacle Airlines using 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets.

It's always the small print. Like that have something to hide. ;)

I keep hearing that is also the plan with the MD90's and MSP for the next two years. The MD90's are doing the MSP-JFK turns in May and alot of the ATL-MSP turns. A few of the rotations have deadheads into and out of MSP at the front and back. It all depends on the hotel costs and the number of deadheads to make the flights work. When those costs are no longer break-even, then the bases will be moved. Nobody is looking out for the impact on our quality of life, they are looking at costs and costs only.

Correct, but over time those costs outweigh the price of paying for our moves.

Sailing points out that they are not planning a base down here. Well that may be true, but it goes against the thinking that our VP of Ops was saying at a few of these town hall meetings. I will note as I have before, it does appear that there are some differing opinions on basing and aircraft route utilization depending on if you talk to the guys that head up flight ops, the route management guys, and then the crew planners.
In effect a fluid situation.
It is a lot easier to transition domestic fleets and bases over time whereas it is more costly to do it with international crews.

What were you told? I was told early 2013 at the latest a few months ago. Haven't checked since then.

Do you mean just MEM? Because WN is in & out of Nashville quite a bit.

Interesting. Any ball park idea just how long it takes for the bean counters to come to this conclusion? I have watched for several years now a TON of Atlanta 7ER crews laying over in NYC while doing 6 day trips to destinations that we also serve (obviously) out of JFK. If what you say is true, it would seem to me that they would have increased the staffing in NY, and done the opposite routing, because I am pretty sure that hotel rooms in ATL are just a little bit cheaper than Manhattan... but I am sure it is a big picture kinda thing.. :D

Is it just the 30's & 40's, or are we talking all of them? Also, will management be able to use the MD90's as "growth airplanes" solely to increase the total amount of RJ's then just park mainline planes? Or does our agreement prevent that?

No, you're thinking correctly - at one the of the pilot meetings senior management said whether to have a base depends on the price of the hotel rooms. But... if you grow a base then later have to decrease the size, there is a cost (in training and possible moving costs for mandatory displacement) in that. So - they might be hesitant to grow a base too big.
It sure annoys us in the base to have a large number of reserves but having another base come in and fly trips out of our base.

It also has to do with seasonal staffing v/s year long staffing.

You see a lot more crews from ATL in NYC in the summer months.

And as you know sometimes you can not explain why scheduling does what they do :)