@Natstrackalpha
There is a demand and there are not enough pilots to fulfil the demand.
Utter nonsense. There is a small demand in a few airlines that have basically put themselves in this position due to piss poor planning.
There are thousands and thousands of unemployed pilots worldwide that would love an opportunity. There are thousands of pilots out there that are employed and love the opportunity.
What there isn't is plenty of pilots willing to work for little or less reward in a not so familiar environment and in some circumstances for a not so friendly employer....or should I say "customer" as they will be contractors after all.
Before anyone says there are not enough "qualified" pilots, that is utter nonsense too. There are plenty of pilots out there with thousands of hours, most likely on type with legacy carriers which could move into such positions....but why would they....the carrot isn't big enough by far.
The US has again plenty of pilots all with over 1500 hours and ready to move to the regionals so the US airline argument is false too. By saying they are not good pilots is a sign that training needs to be changed not the current 1500 hour rule, however I suspect it is simply a ploy to keep T's & C's down.
The only shortage of crew in any airline in todays climate when there are more unemployed pilots than there has ever been (certainly in Europe anyway) is purely down to their own incompetence, period.