The future of majors seem linked to big airplanes. The prevailing attitude is let the regionals fly 50 pax and below (slowly evolving to 80-90 pax) and we will fly the big ones. How big is big ? I know it sounds stupid but in my opinion Airbus airplanes that carry 500+ pax might as well have the word and symbol TARGET painted on the side. I'm not flaming or baiting but looking for an honest discussion of the continued growth of airplane size and passenger carring capability in the majors.

Clarification
 

What I meant by the statement "retired hobbyists" was that as a retired person they do not have the same income needs as say a 23 year old with student loans and career goals. Retired Hobbyists kids are grown and really couldn't care less about being gone or what the paycheck is. Management loves them.

I could be approaching that situation soon. If I were to return to aviation I would be less concerned about pay and more interested in the schedules and benefits. I bet that even flying for the regionals would seem like more fun if I wasn't starving in the process and wasn't concerned about career advancement.

If a start up came to Seattle I most likely would jump on it regardless of pay. I think that there is a large group of sidelined guys just like me who have also created outside income streams and would have similar intentions.

The regioals have picked up on the retiree phenomenon and I would bet that the majors follow suit.

SkyHigh

With regional life increasing becoming more unpleasant I am not sure there will be as many of them in the future. Even if you don't need money, a regional can really put a drag on things.