Just what management wants you to think. This is part of the regional mentality and why it can never improve. As of lately, new hire classes have been full of mostly low experience. But that's not really supposed to be the norm. It's hard to attract pilots with experience due to the low pay. But nothing about the job and what you do is entry level. First officers fly CRJ's in the same manner under the same sky, rules, physics and limitations as a 737 at a major. It's not uncommon to see people in new hire classes that have more experience than the training pilots themselves out on the line. This goes for majors and regionals.

So that regional airline being an entry level job is a pretty arrogant statement. Does that mean legacy carriers are entry level too because new hires have less experience than line captains at a regional? It would be an interesting dynamic if people were hired based on their experience. However, due to the seniority system there is no such thing as an entry level job in the airline environment.