I agree completely. There are still many safety issues with the regionals. The flights are indeed contracted out by majors to regionals, there is no denying that. But once you get on a regional jet, you're no longer flying actual mainline. Many people think they are. The airlines make it seemless which is nice, but many passengers don't know they're not flying with actual mainline employees.
You do make a good point about contracts and licenses for the routes and your analogies are good too.
I do agree there needs to be more communication between mainline and regional and better training on both levels. The Colgan Dash-8 flight is just one example. I also think pilots should be paid much more. $18/hr at Mesa is that a joke? Nope. They may have raised that figure recently, but not by much. I seriously believe, based on the people I see and know, that if pilots were paid more, they would care more about their jobs and their company. I know plenty of regional pilots who constantly badmouth their company and say how much of a hell hole it is...but that's another topic for another forum.
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