I again point to the historical perspective...

Look at Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Western, UsAir, UAL, Delta, NWA. They all took significant pay cuts. The only pilot group I can recall (off the top of my head) that said "no" was American's APA last fall, and they subsequently voted in concessions.

One truism: Pilots talk tough in pilot lounges, they talk tough in the cockpit, they talk tough in hotel vans (and they talk really tough on Internet forums!) but they vote in the privacy of their homes. They look at their mortgage payments, car payments, etc as well as their wives and children and think "I don't like this, but we (I) can get by, and it's better than unemployment". Then they vote "yes".

I was blown away when 85% of the voting Pinnacle pilots voted for their recent concessions knowing that (IIRC) roughly 2/3 will get furloughed. And those were (the) "already underpaid regional pilots" you spoke of.

Is it "fair"? Absolutely not, but "fairness" doesn't matter.

But here's another interesting issue. Regional carriers are having a harder time finding applicants. People considering a career in aviation are seeing the low wages, lousy work rules and sub-optimal quality of life of junior pilots at the regional carriers and deciding that perhaps a career in a different line of work is more appealing. Additionally, some experienced pilots are taking their skill sets overseas for rapid (instant) upgrade and significantly more money.

What happens in a few years if this rumored "pilot shortage" materializes? The regional airlines have agreements with major airlines that they are contractually obligated to fulfill yet they don't have the staffing.