This question goes out to MasterShaker- since Mesa, Republic, Comair, and ASA are short crews and Expressjet has extra planes and crews that they are scrambling to find homes for, did you ever give thought to maybe Expressjet got the LA flying because they are the only ones with extra planes and pilots capable of giving the lift right now? No, didn't think so. It's a great foot in the door for Express Jet so they can keep flying instead of parking (pilots, planes or both). It also works out great for Delta since, as of right now, no other of it's carriers has extra planes and pilots to fly those routes. Delta needed lift, Express Jet needed work.