My take on this hiring spree is that "crappy" reginals are looking for warm bodies to fill empty right seats (because everybody is jumping ship), while good regionals are looking for Captains.
The crappie outfits know the 250/50 folks will bail as soon as they get the so called 121 experience. I heard of a guy that had to rent a c152 to build PIC because he didn't have enough to upgrade. Is that good captain material?
Sharkair, you can't tell me that some Mesa gear swinger is going to get hired over somone with a CFII/MEI and plenty of PIC at a "good" regional.
No offense. If thats the case, then we have hit bottom.

It will be interesting a few years down the road to see if the jumpship method is really shorter to a "good" Major or Frac.