ChrisH,

You have to compare apples to apples. You can't take 56K of Horizon pay and claim that it is a lot of money compared to your home town standards. When you work for the airlines you have to live in big cities (for the most part) and expenses are much higher. Imagine having to pay New York city rent at 30K. Plus you have to remember that it can take 17 years (on average) to get to a livable wage. Most of that 17 years will be spent at very low wages while you are building debt to survive.

There are no future promises. A few companies have 3 to 4 year upgrade times but there are no guarantees it will stay that way. If you hire on to a company for its quick upgrade times is usually when they begin to slow down. Back when I hired on at Horizon Air they told me in the interview that they were running 9 month upgrades at the time. I sat there for two years and was still two years away from upgrade. Times change and there are no promises. The odds are that regionals might have to shrink and we will be heading to some hard times again. (There are 9 year FO's at American Eagle.) The alternative is that conditions will deteriorate to a point where it is easy to get a job that no one wants anymore. (I kind of think we are there now as far as the regionals are concerned).

You keep assuming too much. It is possible that it could take a new hire 20 years or more to upgrade at the majors. Kill Bill has been with Continental for almost 20 years and only recently upgraded. Also it takes over 15 years to reach the RJ at Horizon as a Captain. There are other factors of upgrading and equipment choices to consider as well ie, bases, seniority ect... You shouldn't assume that if someone upgrades in 4 years at company X that he is having a good time doing it. Lifestyle choices can put off upgrade years past your first opportunity.

When you are young it is easy to be idealistic about life, but there needs to be some down to earth thinking too. If you dream of having a normal family life and building a nest egg then the airlines and aviation is a very risky path. If you are a confirmed bachelor who is waiting to inherit a fortune then by all means go for it. Another consideration is age. By my estimation if you are not on with a good major airline by 35 it is too late to make it to a good place. By the time you upgrade and are senor enough to hold some good lines your wife and kids will be grown and gone and you will have missed it all.

Something to think about. A plan B is a great idea.

Your Friend,

SkyHigh