So I'm about to hit the big "four oh" and looking at the second half of my life and my career trying to figure out what, if anything, to do. The common suggestion on a great many threads here is, "just wait for UAL, Delta, AA or FedEx" to call... but the question that is rarely asked is, "What if they never do?"

I'm not a newby at this. I was one of the first newhires at USAir in the 1999 hiring boom. After 9/11 though, with no PIC turbine I stumbled for a while, bouncing between regionals before landing at a pretty good corporate job. Over time, however, the working conditions at the corporate job have degraded to the point that I am considering a return to part 121 and possibly to a carrier that lacks a CBA, but where pilots have some control over their schedule (bidding via PBS) whereas we have no control of the schedule at the corporate department. There is a days off rotation, but it is frequently "suspended" during periods of high demand. Politics in corporate are extremely important. If you and your chief pilot don't see eye to eye, it is easy to imagine a target on your back. Everything is extremely personal and the "good ol' boys" network still weighs heavily on opportunities that arise from time to time. Each year you write a self-evaluation and are evaluated by your chief pilot to determine what, if any, raise you get. There is no pilot loss-of-medical insurance. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the company laid off about 20% of its pilots about 3 years ago. It was done out of seniority order with the most senior pilot having been hired by the company founder and with 30 years of longevity. Those pilots are rumored to not be eligible for any recall.

That's terrifying to me because I can see it happening to me at 45, 50, or 55 years old... and then what? Uproot my family to take any flying job I can when my kid is in the middle of high school? Or is it better now to take a good 121 job where, at the very least there is a seniority system that would likely be honored? Or stay here and wait for a better opportunity or a legacy to call... but wait for how long? I'm already 40.

The suggestion that you should wait for UAL or DAL to call seems logical for a 30 year old RJ Captain. But if you look at the hundreds .. maybe thousands of people who line up at job fairs and WIA for 5 minutes with a recruiter, you realize that - even with massive retirements - competition for those positions is going to be fierce -- and not just among RJ pilots, but also pilots from other majors, corporate and charter, fractional, and of course military.

This isn't 1999, and the world has changed a lot since then. When I was hired by USAir, airlines still flew F100s and DC9-10s, and 737-200s. They had only recently parked F28s, Bac1-11s, and BAe 146s. There was a definite distinction between the feeder and the "mainline". That meant that those narrow-body 100 passenger jobs were all at the majors and, although it was competitive, there were plenty of jobs to go around. Not so today. Those narrow-body 50-100 passenger aircraft that used to be entry level at the majors are flown by large regionals. There are only 3 or 4 legacy air carriers and a whole lot of competition to get there.

How would a 40+ year old corporate pilot (light/midsize jet) who hasn't flown 121 for 10+ years look when compared with a 25 year old RJ Captain, or military pilot?

Further, how old is too old from a financial perspective? When does it no longer make financial sense to go. Even leaving this corporate department to go to the major I am considering is a dramatic pay cut for several years -- and a complex commute for at least a year until we can move to a domicile. But yet I am considering it for the control over schedule, increased days off (we only get 7 "hard" days off per month - but typically we are home 12 or so) and the protection of a seniority based system. I just don't know if I want to wake up every day in my 50s wondering if that's the day that the meal expense I went over budget on 5 years ago was going to result in my being selected during the next headcount reduction.

It's not an easy decision, and I don't expect you guys to make it for me. But I figured I would run it past you since most of the threads here seem to deal with young guys moving from regionals to majors. There has to be other people who made similar decisions in their 40s with families, a little more experience, and a lot less hair.

In your response PLEASE do not mention the specific names of any airline companies or corporate flight departments you think I might be referencing. Its a pretty small world on this side of the fence.

Thanks for your understanding and your thoughtful responses.