True, but mainline management is just as culpable in causing the pilot shortage.

Mainline has demanded cheaper and cheaper feed from the regional airlines, and in so doing, they have caused regional management to continually tighten the screws on pilot pay.

The mainlines could have easily said "You know what? We need to do our part to ensure that the supply of new pilots continues unabated, especially given our upcoming onslaught of retirements, so we will dictate that our regional airline partners pay their pilots a wage that will entice young would-be aviators to invest in themselves and pursue a career as a professional pilot".

But no. Today's mainline management, (like most of corporate America's MBA-studded management ranks), cannot see past their next bonus period. They couldn't give two shiits about the viability of their airline in 5 years, because in 5 years they will have collected their bonuses, burnished their résumés, and moved on to ruin another corporate entity. These rats will always be the first ones to abandon their sinking ship.