I still see a lot of pilots (especially current RJ captains) sticking it out at a lot of regionals with no flow waiting for direct entry to a legacy or LCC vs. starting all over again for a flow-thru promise that could take 5-10 years. Those with only 1-3 years invested might move laterally, but not captains with houses and kids hoping to the bottom of another regional to get in a line with no promises other then a maybe IF they continuously hire for 6,7,8 years or whatever.

In theory, this whole idea of poaching sounds good, but in practice I'm not convinced. Cradle-to-grave is another carrot to dupe dopey pilots into long commitments with questionable payoffs, IMO. For some it might work, but for many others it will be a long frustrating trip. If they have a mainline seniority number and a guarantee, perhaps, but murky promises almost always have been for the benefit of managements. If a pilot with 4 years at Envoy and estimating his or her touchdown at AA to be 2-3 years away and Delta calls offering a class date after they interview, they're gone.

None of this will solve the real problem for them and that's convincing someone to rack up $50K in extra debt to join the regional slum life as a new hire F/O. The well is dry and it will take years to replenish. It will be a full blown crisis within 12-18 months and they f'ed up. It's too late. They're screwed.