It has been this way for a long time. The only ones who made out were the few lucky enough to hit a hiring boom before 30. All of those guys were very well sponsored golden boys. people are naturally hopeful and tend to believe in things that don't exist. Why else would anyone work for a fraction of the top rates? In any capacity, aviation would be a career of last resort outside of a major airline. Pilots have some hope of career progression, everyone else in the industry is largely pigeon holed. Enough so to make working at a regional an incredibly dumb decision.