Regularguy,
Thanks for pointing out the bleeding obvious. When I was hired we had 3 year Captains. Back then I figured that I'd wait 7 or 8 years to upgrade so I could enjoy some decent seniority for (commuter) bidding. Pretty funny how that worked out!
Its a cyclical industry and airlines have come and gone along with idiotic ideas and readily available capital. There's no guarantee of success yet almost always excess hubris coupled with a lack of business acumen. A pilot signs up on someones list and keeps his fingers crossed. Yet, its his fault that his decisions have kept him in the right seat?
In my career there were plenty of airlines which I never applied to due to a particularly putrid stench of one scent or another. Yet, looking back I wish that I had rolled the dice and applied to them when a much younger man. Who knows, I might be a 777 Captain now! In this industry, shiiip happens. But hey, look at all that multi engine turbine time I was able to build! (What a joke)
Here's an ugly fact. When I was a commuter Captain, former Pan Am and Eastern Captains flew as my F/O. I should have quit then.