Be careful not to let airplane type be the thing that decides your future. In the end a puddle jumper is a puddle jumper (just some puddles are bigger than others ). The important things are pay, QOL and progression. I would fly a rubberband powered biplane if they gave me a big pile of money, I could be home every night and there was good progression into something I really wanted to do.

One thing Doug Parker talked about yesterday was the idea of synergies being created by a merger. Just in case your wondering, "synergies" in the airline business means eliminating capacity, manpower, and cost overlap. If a merger happens, my bet is that there could be a regional airline out there without a mainline partner to feed.

Depending on where you live, Colgan might be a viable option because they primarily do out and backs, so you are home every night. As far as stabilty is concerned, they operate for two other airlines other than US Airways.

On the airways side... I think Colgan has a stable future. A lot of their flying is government awarded Essential Air Service contracts, and the owner of Colgan just happens to be a politician (state senator last I worked there). Colgan will continue to keep their EAS routes no matter what shakes out. As for Piedmont... I can see Airways looking for a way to shed the liability of having a wholly owned carrier, but I can also see a need for the Dash in the Northeast. Delta just started Dash service ala Mesa/Freedom. Perhaps in a post-merger world, Mesa will be out of the picture, and Piedmont will cover the combined Dash flying. Turboprops are a great asset in the Northeast, and despite customer perceptions, they will live to fly another day.

Doug Parker is known to not be a big RJ fan. I would assume that turboprops will be around for a long time. High fuel prices (t-props are a lot more effecient) and hi-tech planes like the Q400 will help ensure their survival.