I have nothing but time to waste. Maybe I should write a book. I'm definitely not going back to school, although an MBA might help my rationale with things.

When you look at the last of the Mohicans at Comair, or the guys at Mesa that could hold 747A slots with their years of service, or any other really senior guy on a seniority list that isn't making what we do, a common thread is that they couldn't take the pay cut at year 1 at a major, so they just never left. So while it had no bearing on where you applied, I certainly wouldn't have given Delta much thought had they not paid more first year than where I was at. After almost a decade puttering around in RJs I was deep in debt. So I get it. Different strokes for different folks, but I get it.

All I'm saying is that going forward the majority in place now, is rapidly going to get replaced by the minority that's in that stack of 11000 apps. And if you aren't setting a good example about why we should be getting paid more, SJS, and the decimated RJ contracts are going to make $102.02 at third year pay look incredible. Perspective perspective perspective.

All I'm saying, in direct response to your statement about guys mortgaged to their eyeballs is that people need to be aware of their surroundings and their actual (not perceived) value to their employer. Good decision making is tough when the money is flowing, but I'd rather take a series of stable, metered pay increases, than swing for a home run, only to see the home run overturned by instant replay. See what I'm getting at?