Originally Posted by Flymeaway

What happens is that pilots at a new startup regional or a regional that's lost most of its flying accept a very low wage in exchange for the promise of getting lots of new flying which leads to rapid growth, upgrades, and that magic 1000 121 PIC time...and then in theory a move up to the majors. Pilots at other regionals must then decide to either accept concessionary contracts which allow their managements to bid very low for new flying contracts due to not having to pay their crews more than peanuts, or watch their contracts expire and lose their jobs. They call it the whipsaw.

Whether and how much wages at the regionals might go up or down depends on how many pilots are willing to effectively volunteer their time in the hopes of quickly getting a job at mainline for the big bucks. Wages could certainly fluctuate significantly, depending on how quickly the economy and demand recovers, at both the regional and mainline level.