Grande52, I'd love to hear your story. I am in a similar boat. Navy F18 Driver with 2,400 hours. TOPGUN Grad, Strike Lead, Inst Instructor, NATOPS Instructor, Advanced Tactics Instructor, Maintenance Check Pilot..........yet I've been out of the Hornet for 6 years. I do fly with a local club (Cessna 172) and also stay instrument current with a pretty slick full visual simulator they have. I'm retiring next May and am looking hard at my options. I have some great opportunities making six figures and being home every night for dinner with the family, but I do love flying, which is why I'm thinking about the airline option. I just can't see sacrificing time away from the family for $20k a year at a Regional with the lifestyle that I'm reading about in these forums. I'm not 20 years old, I'm 43 and want to watch my kids grow up. I'm an extremely chill, down to earth guy, but after 600+ traps, 80+ combat missions and countless months away from home I have to admit to being a bit selfish about what I want after the military. Did you get on right away with a Major? How did you do it after 10 years away from the cockpit? I have every single qual/written test done except my ATP Cert. I'm planning to do that in Jan/Feb. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I guess the bottom line is I absolutely respect the guys in these forums that sacrifice the time away to build time and opportunity to get into the left seat and then on to a Major. I don't want to start there. Should I save my money on the ATP cert?