Absolutely PNCL Holdings knew this deal was in the works for a number of weeks if not months prior to the trigger being pulled. And, if I were a betting person I'd say that this is the initial round in a salvo of continuing airline consolidations taking place. It was only a matter of time after the AA/US, NW/DL and UA/CO mergers that things would trickle down to the regionals.
I don't think that this merger/asset transfer is taking place to make life easier on the employee groups. Airline mergers/acquisitions/bankruptcies are historically very, very tough on employees while management and the shareholders typically laugh all the way to the bank. Everyone needs to remember that you could very well be camping out where you are for awhile. When the age 65 rule kicks in and the senior legacy pilots begin retiring there will be some movement, but for attrition only. Reality is that there will still be a large number of applicants for relatively few seats. Don't be naive to even think that there is a "pilot shortage" at the legacy carriers. That was, is and will always be a myth (unless you want to spend $$$ having Kit Darby tell you otherwise).
Standby for heavy rolls ladies and gentleman, this isn't going to be the end of the consolidation (read that as LESS jobs, LESS airframes, LESS cost, etc...) and I fully expect to see scope extended to 150 seats in the future. Delta made a wise business decision to divest themselves of their regional carriers that they inherited from NWA. This opens the way for competitive bidding for the lift and relieves them of the cost.
Comair is going to next, and God help them if it is an asset sale. Delta has had it in for them since the strike and it has been a "#$%-storm" there ever since of uncertainty. I can see the same thing happening at Mesa too. All they have that is really of any value is their UEx -700 flying and US -900 flying and in the eyes of management the pilots there make too much money. Cheaper to sell off the airline piecemeal (Thanks for the memories J.O.) and boot the poor sods that work there out on the street to try and find a seat a slave wages.
I really hope that I am dead wrong about what the future holds in the industry, but if you really take an objective look at the macroeconomics it IS NOT a favorable picture for labor. Hopefully, we can all manage to stay employed and keep a roof over our heads thats not made out of cardboard.
Regards,
ex-Navy Rotorhead