Wholly Owned Regional Carriers
American used to own the entirety of its regional operation, Eagle; Northwest owned Compass; Delta owned Comair. Continental had ExpressJet. American still has a few wholey owned regionals. Alaska has Horizon. Given consolidation has largely run its course at the mainline level, why doesn’t United think about bringing a leading express operator in-house? This would have the benefit of potentially easier pilot recruitment (i.e. start at a Regional with a clear path to mainline), and it would allow United to better control the customer experience. This subsidiary would still have to compete for the flying, just like Samsung semiconductor has to bid for a place in Samsung electronics’ phones.
Skywest is likely too big and works with everyone but bringing regional flying back under the United umbrella seems it would make more sense than not from an operations perspective.
What do you all think?