Weren't you saying Eagle was going to get CRJ-900s? Still think that is a possibility?
I was saying if Eagle got new airplanes, it would most likely be of that variety. Makes sense- it's just a differences class add-on to the existing CRJ program.
Whether or not we really do get new airframes at all is anybody's guess. I actually pressed one of our suits when I was in recurrent about a fleet plan, and he went blank-faced and restated the plan to retire or return the smaller Embraers. Given past history at AMR specifically., I'd think we would, as AMR *really* likes to have a firm grasp on what they're doing. Given the trend to divest and diversify, maybe not.
It comes down to this- does AMR prefer the devil it knows, or the one it doesn't? With FFD supply getting scarce, labor isn't the only sector that could squeeze a mainline partner if things went far enough. Keeping things in house might be really smart.
Given the cronyism at AMR, I wouldn't be surprised if Eagle sticks around just because it'd mean parting ways with people that know where bodies are buried just to further outsource.
Edit: Footnote: I think we'll eventually get something- they've worked pretty hard to squeeze us to make us worth keeping, and an organic asset is the bird-in-hand a lot of airline staffers can't seem to find these days. Time will tell.