Well, like I always say. You never know what you’re going to wake up to in this industry.

Today Delta Air Lines and ExpressJet announced a new two-year capacity agreement that will cover 10 ERJ-145XR aircraft that will be placed into service during June 2007.

It would appear that the new agreement will see ExpressJet taking over routes that were previously operated by Atlantic Southeast.

This seems to be the deal that ExpressJet execs alluded to was “in the making” during the airline’s last earnings call.

Ah, ironies of ironies.

Delta sells off Atlantic Southeast to SkyWest, along with all its inherent problematic operational issues. Now Delta decides to shift its regional service out of Los Angeles to ExpressJet. Oh, and in the press release Delta issued, the following statement was made: “We are pleased to have ExpressJet join the Delta Connection Program,” said Shawn Anderson, Delta’s vice president in charge of the Delta Connection program. “We decided to partner with them because of their strong operating performance and the capabilities of their ERJ-145XR fleet that will enable Delta to offer customers more choices to and from the Western ski markets and into Delta’s hub in Los Angeles.”

What is that noise? Ahhh, must be SkyWest CEO Jerry Atkin hitting his head against the wall of his office.

Ticker: (NYSE:XJT), (OTC: DALRQ.PK)