That makes no sense. If I was your customer, I would be paying you to do something for me right? Well, mainline puts out a bid, a regional agee to the bid, and operates those flights. The operater (the regionals) gets paid to do the flying. It's no difference as if you were to hire a contractor to do a job for you. What do you think a regional is? It's a contract operator. That's why it says "operated by xxxx airlines" on the side of the airplane. Yes, the paint keeps changing because that's what the customer (mainline) wants.