Hmm..I'm not sure how the topic shifted here but the article says pretty clearly that there is no correlation as of now, to the crew's qualifications.
It further states that "flying for regional airlines can be a grueling existence and a sacrifice that many pilots make" and "These guys are very experienced pilots and used to those conditions".
What I'm reading here is that regional pilots do the same job, if not more, than a legacy carrier that may spend 8 hours aloft during 1 leg. I noticed the article after receiving a few calls from friends with similar questions this week.
Now we all know that the profession has taken a serious and sad decline as companies constantly cut 'operational' costs, but who did they negotiate with? Probably not you just starting out but rather a 'brother' leaving in a few short years. Interesting how even when something is top heavy, the bottom still gets shaved.
"Pilots accept this as part of the game, and the companies do it because they can."