[AFspecOps]

Many regional airlines are hurting now for pilots and it's expected to get much worse in the next 5-10 years as many pilots retire. It's not unheard of for airlines to give experienced pilots a $50,000 sign-on bonus, and that is expected to rise in the near future if more pilots aren't there to fill the slots. If I'm not mistaken, the number of military pilots has decreased; when you combine that with the high cost of financing private flight instruction, it makes sense that a regional carrier would try a program like this.