LAVDUMPER....I'm happy to confirm that Towerdog's NOT filling your honeycart full of used blue stuff, he speaks the truth (he'll soon be at 2nd yr pay though!).
47guy....US carriers have abrogated contracts by claiming "Force Majeure". If you really believe what you posted you'd best stick with the blue or green mouthwash version (Scope).
YakYak....Scope is a term applied to set limited growth (and protect the incumbent) such that a carrier's flying doesn't get passed around to the cheapest common denominator. Eg,if you think back a few years, running shoes were made in Hong Kong. Then along came Vietnam who obviously manufactured them for a lower cost. Now, pretty much everything is made in China, at the lowest cost. Equate this to airline pilots and a scope clause may have found the Hong Kong folks still in employment. Bit more to it than that but that's all that'll fit on this nutshell.
Guvnor....before you give us a whole farthings worth of your wisdom on the above, check out the Chinese carriers' safety performance.
Cheers,dd
(and yes, I know the US ain't perfect-never said it was)