To me, all the numbers look similar. I see the $5000 bonus as a plus and wish I had it. First year pay sucks (It sucks even more the second time). I know if I had an extra $5000 I would actually make it through my first year instead of taking on debt and using my second year raise to pay it off. By the end of year 1 at ExpressJet, I will be about $3,500 in the hole. When I get my second year pay I will have to use that raise to payoff the bills I incurred over this last year. So, since it looks like over a 5 year period ExpressJet only pays $3,000 more, I would rather have that money now when I really need it versus 5 years from now. But you know, I am paying my dues (I don’t know why pilots took that phrase literally).