How do you guard against this? There is no airline that is safe from shut down/merging/fragmenting/being bought out 100% of the time.

Braniff, PanAm, TWA, Eastern -- gone. Less than a decade ago, Delta was near liquidation and would have been unable to meet payroll had it not filed bankruptcy. Northwest filed the same day. United and USAirways both have been through the bankruptcy process more than once in recent history. AA is in bankruptcy now and its future is uncertain -- will they remain stand alone? Will the be bought out or merger with USAirways? Will they liquidate?

Delta's sitting pretty right about now. Will they be in 5 years? Hopefully, but you never know. Hypothetically, if they start to go down the tubes and head towards bankruptcy, should pilots start bailing from Delta and head to another major that is doing better? Should AA pilots be going to UCAL right now or Delta when they start hiring?

On the corporate side, flight departments come and go on a whim. Fractionals for the most part are struggling and have furloughed loads of pilots in the past several years.

Just because you move to a major airline does not make you any more secure in your career than being at a regional at the end of the day. There is no such thing as a secure job in this industry. This entire career is a gamble. If you've found a "secure" position, well, good for you. My hat's off to you. But our entire profession is based on an ounce of luck mixed with a dash of good timing.