Places like Jet Blue, Virgin, etc... are hiring pilots without a lot (or any) of PIC time. Some of us theorize that it means those pilots are now stuck at those airlines cause they don't have the PIC time to get on at places that require it - Southwest, Fed EX... It therefore cuts down on training cost at the first group of airlines as those pilots won't be leaving for better places as easily.

The other train of though is that a RJ captain with a lot of seniority at one of the better regionals doesn't really aspire to work at Virgin because it doesn't offer that much of a career advancement (it's a pay cut, worse schedule, back to the right seat...). They're holding out for Delta, or one of the better airlines. Nearly 20% of the pilot group at SkyWest are making $95+ an hour with the seniority to hold a decent schedule. It's hard to give that up for half the pay and a commute to reserve.

And lastly, don't think that every FO that gets hired at SkyWest is a 1500 flight instructor. Plenty of pilots come here with PIC turbine time. I've flown with several that came here with over 5000 pic turbine, and many others that had between 500-2000 pic turbine already. We get plenty of guys out of 135/corporate/military jobs that have a great resume already that are looking to add some 121 to make it even better.