Having just gone through a regional "hiring spree", I have seen no evidence of affirmative action hiring discussed here. All my former colleagues, minority or not, went through the same process to get the regional interview. When I finally made it to indoc, there weren't any women or minorities saying that they got hired below the competitive mins at the time. Matter of fact, all the people in my class below competitive mins were all white males.

IMO, the people who believe in unqualified women and minoritiy pilots being hired probably also believe in a pilot shortage and unicorns.