Guys, remember you have to factor in all aspects of a regional before deciding which one is "best" for you. And many of these factors are subjective.

Regarding slaphappy, I do not agree with his mentality, BUT I do agree that upgrade time IS a factor when deciding which regional to choose. (otherwise we'd ALL be at Horizon) And so is growth/financial stability. What good is an amazing contract if you get laid-off in 6 months?

Everything has its weight and importance.

Bla Bla Bla, I am not trying to defend slaphappy. But let's say me an you start at XJT and SWK at the same time. The XJT pilot has a better starting pay and better contract, but takes 3 years to upgrade. The SKW guy makes a few bucks less the first year, but upgrades to CA in the BRO after 12 months. Now he's making 30% plus pay and is building turbine PIC. IN the third year, the XJT pilot is still an FO, while the SKW upgrades to CRJ CA.

Result: after 3 years the SKW pilot made a LOT more money and built enough PIC time to move up to majors/fracs/carbo/ect while the XJT made less money and is just now upgrading.

Who made the wiser move? Who made more money? (doesn't it all boil down to whoever made the most $$$? Isn't that what everyone is complaining about?)

Before anyone starts saying that those upgrade times are not accurate, IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE. I do not want to comment on the respective upgrade times of SKW and XJT on this thread. What I am saying is that upgrade time DOES and SHOULD be a factor when choosng a regional.

If you had the choice between $22/hour with 2 year upgrade vs. $23/hour with 4 year upgrade, which would you pick? Sure you're making $1 less an hour, but I'll upgrade sooner, its called a tradeoff. Now I agree with you that we don't want to get to the level of Mesa, but where do you draw the line between pay vs. upgrade tradeoff? If you were a 5 year FO at AE in San Juan on the ATR I'm sure you'd give up a couple of bucks in the first year to get a quicker upgrade, because remember that a quicker upgrade means more money IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON USING THE REGIONALS AS A STEPPING STONE (which I sure as hell hope is the case for most people). Now if you're planning on spending your entire life at a regional, I can see how this reasoning would hurt you and reduce your long-term eaning potential. However, I can argue that if you are planning on staying at a regional forever, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM because you are staying at a "low paid" position instead of working your way up, thereby lowering the bar for everyone. Let's face it, even at the highest paid regional the captain top pay is still lower than for the majors.

If all we should care about is PAY, PAY and PAY, then anyone who doesn't go to Horizon is lowering the bar! PERIOD!

Please realize it's not ALL about pay. It's about bases, QOL, aircraft type, contract AND UPGRADE TIME, whether you like it or not.