The "retention" bonuses are not "retaining" anyone.

No one is staying at any regional airline because of these bonuses. Rather, the vast majority of regional pilots "retain" their employment at a regional airline simply because the next stepping stone or major has not called them,........ yet.

If ALPA (and those pilots who love these temporary bonuses) could look past the "free money", they'd disallow any future hiring and/or "retention" bonuses and would instead, force management to permanently fix the pay scales to reflect the experience, skills, professionalism, talent, dedication, and responsibility that these lowly regional pilots are expected to possess and exhibit, and thereby allow regional airlines to attract and "retain" as many talented professionals as they need.