Indeed. But that is far less true for the regionals though. They're a much more known quantity in that regard. Don't shoot the messenger and all, but it's just not that competitive a job to get, even though they do the same damn thing as a major airline pilot.
Now, personally I don't think FFD carriers are a justifiable job to treat as entry level OJT just because they happen to be FFD. But that's what the perverse incentives the mainline carriers have created, has left us with. They've [mainline] always been rent-seekers of the highest order, first by siphoning military pilots, and when that well historically dried up post cold-war, the expansion of the FFD model saved them from having to cough up the cost of ab initio. Latter which is essentially what separates us from the European and Asian experiences when it comes to a vocational track to an airliner cockpit.
You ain't kiddin'. I'm genuinely curious how the heck PSA green-lighted a commissioned officer applicant with a Dismissal from the US Military. You can't even get cigarettes down the street with that albatross hanging over your neck; but part 121, okie dokey? Jesus.
Regionals just need to die already, I don't care how many dreamer 57 year old career changers it sidelines.
