Originally Posted by Skychief

I left XJT 6 months ago for CAL and I have absolutely no regrets about my decision. The cons about making the move are all VERY short term...no medical benefits for 5 months...1st year pay....reserve (only 2 months)...bottom of seniority list (last I checked, I already have around 300 below me).

For me, I had anticipated the pay cut, so I was able to put away a good chunk of change to help with the pay cut and to pay for temporary health insurance...I also re-vamped my budget.....after adjusting the budget, I have not had to use my savings (except to pay for the temp health insurance)....

In my opinion, the pros far outweigh the cons.....by my 3rd year I'll be making about the same as what I was when I left XJT....somewhere between 4th and 5th year I will "break even" with the amount of $$ I lost with the paycut coming here....if I had stayed at XJT I would have been on reserve as a CLE CA with only 12 days off a months and 75 hour guarantee...at CAL I am holding a line with 14-15 days off a month and around 85 hours of pay.....at CAL, I average 2 legs per day...occasionally I will have a 3 leg day.....I love the variety of destinations...west coast, east coast, caribean, south america, latin america, canada....and that is just on the 737....so far all of the crews have been great....only a handful of "slam clickers"....the movement is very quick at CAL....right now I should retire around 150 at CAL (of course this will change with mergers, medicals, etc.), if I stayed at XJT I would have retired around 350....I could probably go on and on about what I like, but I think you get the point.

If I had one recommendation, it would be to plan ahead...if you think you might be interested in making the move to a major, start saving now...re-adjust your budget now.....that way when the call comes you will take the "I can't affort the pay cut" out of the decision making process.....then you can make your decision based on QOL, bases, and what your expectations of your career are.

Good luck!

Skychief