I kinda agree with the gist of your post, but then again I kinda don't agree. The point you make that I don't think you are intending to make is that this whole thing is really a crap shoot. It doesn't matter which airline you go with, any of them could be tomorrow's nightmare for your career... or not. Roll the dice and take your chances. You have little to no control over it. All you can do is make the best decision possible with the information you have today. Anyone who thinks they can predict what's going to happen in the future... whether it's an airline, the economy, the price of gold, whatever... is fooling themselves. The only airline that has consistently been a great place to be in terms of a good balance between advancement and compensation over a really long period of time is SWA. Will it be that way going forward? Doesn't really look like it with the Air Tran purchase. But who knows?