KTM300, notsofast, and others,
Look, we all know that scope (or the lack thereof) is a problem for our industry. It's pathetic that some feel the need to fight and argue even over things we agree on. This is why there is no unity among your 2 groups. IMO it's like you want to fight to the end just to BE right, rather than trying to see and do WHAT"S right. And blaming ALPA for all your problems has practically become a religion or obsession to some of you.
Comair and ASA were flying far more RJ's than anyone else when the shift first started from turboprops to RJ's. As has already been pointed out, the Air Wisconsin thing was an anomaly, and UA actually bought the company to capture the feed and slots, only to sell them off later when they could not resolve contractual commitments with employees, particularly the flight attendants.
It's a moot point to try to assign blame. You might as well "blame" SW pilots for allowing their airline to poach off the fat of our hubs during lean times. You can blame every other airline for ignoring capacity discipline and driving ticket prices down when they should have been going up. We can go in circles forever debating it. But the truth is that pilots in general, ALPA and others, were short sighted at the time and should have captured all jet flying for mainline at all carriers. It was a tiny blip on the radar and we ALL should have taken it more seriously. 9/11, economic meltdown, and bankruptcies only fueled managements ability to gut scope clauses and open the flood gates to outsourcing, fee-for-departure arrangements, and shopping for the lowest bidder.
In fact ALPA is the only one trying to do anything to reverse the trend. What is USAPA doing about it? Delta and UA have/will negotiate contracts that stop further outsourcing, tie regional flying to mainline expansion, and capture large RJ flying in the future. At the regionals, ALPA is attempting to organize pilots across various airlines to negotiate common contracts and rate to put an end to airline's efforts to shop the lowest bidder. I know it's probably too little too late to completely reverse, but at least it is a step in the right direction and will eventually lead to better scope protections for all. ALPA is also lobbying for regulations that will put an end to Aer Lingus type arrangements for good. "Metal in the market" will prevent US airlines from becoming virtual airlines with foreign carriers doing all the international flying.
RJ's were in vogue when jet fuel was relatively cheap and marketing showed that passengers preferred jets. We all know they have nothing to do with efficiency, especially on short routes. The only way regional airlines could lower their costs and bid lower for contracts was to fly longer segments. Suddenly regional jets left the region, which is when we should have started calling them SJ's (small jets) instead of RJ's. Ideally, regional flying should be done by new, advanced, comfortable, turboprops like the Dash Q400. All jet flying should be done by mainline. This would have the added benefit of keeping regional flying at altitudes in the 20's where turboprops are more efficient, helping to relieve some of the air traffic congestion that now exists at the higher flight levels. Of course they haven't made me king yet, so until the entire industry decides to get smart, all we can do is negotiate better contracts and try to reverse the trend.
