This is a scraped wingtip....while we don't want to minimalize it, it is a minor incident. How many scraped wingtips have occured on the RJ, or the DC-9 for that matter. As far as busting minimums, I can't speak for all 650 pilots online but I can say that we have ZERO pressure from management to get in and we are never questioned if we decide to miss, not conduct the approach or cancel a flight. I cannot say the same of my time at Jazz.
The FOQA program gives a real time picture of what is happening on the line. We know exactly what is happening on the line from all 650 pilots. The program can speak to our safety program and how it is working. You cannot say the same thing at AC because the culture is of fear of reprisal and suspicion toward motives. What really galls me is the perpetuation of the myth that Low Cost=unsafe. You say that your controller friends say that we bust minimums all the time. If this were the case they would be legally obligated to report this and investigations would be launched. Otherwise it's just an urban myth.