I think it's only a matter of time before the traveling public figures out the business relationships between the main brands and their regionals- and then "Karen" goes nuts about it. As for how long that time takes, given the traveling public's SA and how much they even care, I think it could be next week just as easily as a long time from now.
Maybe, maybe not. My assumption is nobody cares who doesn’t work in aviation.
Did you know that the company that makes Coca-cola and the company that bottles Coca-cola are two different corporate entities with different business goals that are sometimes at odds with one another? Funny, and kind of inventive (it keeps them both honest about lowering their costs), but likewise, I bet the general public would not care, even if they bothered to find out. It’s too inside baseball to affect them. Ditto, the regional vs mainline business relationships.
BT BT
Alternative analysis: While “seniority is everything” today, what would it look like if US airlines radically changed that pilot seniority model, as a mechanism to bring on new pilots to mitigate the pilot walkouts, sickouts, or shortages? Historically, it’s a tool that labor management in other industries have used to undercut a labor force that isn’t complying with management’s wishes. It may not be so far fetched to envision how the airlines could try to manipulate their pilot unions - esp if the airlines feel they have top cover in Congress and the White House over the issue of vaccines.
USA-AIRLINES/AMERICAN AIRLINES (UPDATE 1):UPDATE 1-American Airlines cancels 1,400 flights due to staff shortages, bad weather
news.trust.org