There are many pilots who are currently either grounded or are working contracts overseas and who have a wealth of relevant experience and will simply not fly for the regionals here in the US due to the joke salaries (yes I AM one of them)... and I know many others.
If pax are concerned about experience levels in the cockpit then all they have to do is put their hands in their pockets and dig a bit deeper.
Problem is, pax are Jeckyl and Hyde characters... When booking they want the lowest price... when climbing aboard the aircraft they want the safest flight.
The two don't always coincide.