Actually maybe he does.

Say he upgrades at year 1 and hits 1000 TPIC by year 3 and after 3 years of going to every job fair where Delta was he gets an interview which he smokes in a manner similar to how he'd smoke an approach in a white out in a 1900D in nowhere Kansas and he's hired and flies the 320. So let's look at 10 years of his hourly pay from day 1 at Lakes to DAL at year 4 and then on:

$16, $29, $30, $56 (Delta), $83, $97, $100, $102, $105, $108.

Now all of that is just going off this year's pay. Remember DAL will negotiate a new contract and each year there will be a raise with it. So let's say they get back to Contract 2000 pay levels and say he flies the 88 /90 and not even the higher paying 320...

$16, $29, $30, $56 (Delta), $119, $139, $142, $146, $150, $154

Or he could go to RAH and upgrade at say year 4 and get hired at DAL 3 years after that and probably a good ways into the hiring boom versus having gone 4 or 5 years earlier:

$23, $31, $36, $68, $70, $73, $75, $56 (DAL), $119, $139

So, at 80 hours a month said Great Lakes pilot will over that 10 years will, if Delta falls flat on its face during negotiations, about 5% more than if he did the RAH route or if we get C2K pay then around 42% more. But more importantly, he'll be 4 years senior which if hiring is what it's rumored to be could be as much as 4000 pilots senior.

But as J29 said earlier, there is no way to tell what will happen and whether we'd hire 1000 pilots or 4000 pilots in the span. If we're hiring 1000 a year then you might not be at RAH long either but if the hiring boom is short lived said Great Lakes pilot is at least in the door and has a number while RAH pilot may be stuck at RAH as an FO for years as Captains accumulate years and years worth of TPIC time and then the RAH pilots begins to mumble about it's not so bad here and I make a good living and why would I risk it by going to a legacy and blah blah blah.

All this to say a pilot going to Great Lakes may be the one most looking at pay and benefits and QOL over someone going for $2-$3 more an hour as a jet SIC at RAH, Eagle, XJT, ASA or Skywest.

If I were a recruiter, I'd look at a Great Lakes guy as someone who was gunning to be here yesterday and paid the price for it and that to me is a plus. Sure it's prop time but let's face it, the hardest part about a jet is going from 37,000' to a crossing restriction at 10,000' and I'm sure the guy who spent all day at 240 blowing boots and cycling props while hand flying can figure out how to task manage that descent thing on AP. And besides, while the E-Jet may be one of the best planes flying in the entire industry the 1900D is a man's plane. Even when flown by a woman because she's doing what most men can't.