I couldn't agree more; at least they stopped the bleeding at 86 seats.

Correct!! You win the prize!!

Virtually all airplanes flown under an airline's colors should be on a mainline seniority list IMHO.

Many captains on the EMB-190 could hold other better seats. But it may not fit their lifestyle. Or they could hold right seat 757 or something like that. The fact that it's on the mainline seniority list is a very big deal and I hope that that airplane is NEVER given up. I doubt it will be as virtually everyone sees that that genie is virtually impossible to put back in the bottle.

So now that the damage has been done, with regionals flying mainline aircraft, how do we fix this? The regionals are slowly also becoming career airlines. Which is a bad thing. Senior guys just stick around until they retire. (and I really can't blame them) But they are really against having their mainline counterparts take the RJ flying, anything bigger than 50 seats. I think that would be awesome. I really want to get the hell out of my regional sooner than later and have a real career, but it looks like I'm going to be stuck for a while. Upgrade is years away for me. :(

man this thing looks under-powered, bigtime...

It was the pilots at the majors who gave away the smaller jets. IIRC, they could have had them, but wanted nothing to do with them.

Tell me about it! I have no idea how its going to make it up to 410 with those little pea-shooters! I do, however, think it would be an awesome -9 replacement for NWA/DAL or whoever still flies the -9 worldwide.

Yeah I know, but how do we fix the damage that has already been done? We can whine and gripe about how the good ole days were and how things should have been done, but that doesn't do anything. How do we fix it?

It is important to learn from our past mistakes. There is nothing wrong with dissecting the past as a guide on how to fix it.

What is wrong with being a lifer at a regional? What makes a mainline career more "real" than one at a regional?

sounds a little cocky to me...

Having been a regional pilot up until 2001 I can tell you in no particular order:

Better planes that can get to altitude and go fast when they are there, long layovers in places other than DAY, CID, FNT, LEX, etc., much better schedules (reserve typically gives around 15-18 days off a month), no high speeds/continuous duty/naps (redeyes replace that but they are typically preceeded by a 24 hour layover), better retirement, jetways everywhere you go, overhead bin space for pax, 2nd year pay that exceeds 18 year pay at the regional you left, etc. Also, there is something cool about Boeing on the type rating section of your certificate. But this is just for starters. Others may chime in perhaps.