Originally Posted by
Bzzt
I'm not saying that people should do it for the good of the industry, I'm saying you should do it because building PIC in this day and age is pointless. There are no stepping stones and you will be at a regional for an extended period of time whether you have 1000 PIC or 4000 SIC, etc. Counseling people to only look at upgrade times so they can "get to a major quicker" is misleading and very poor advice.
You're still looking at the past 5 years as the norm. Those hired today will not face the same stagnation we did.
Getting to a major quicker is not the only benefit of quick upgrade. The 65k+ pay is a huge benefit. The fact that you get to fly with your favorite Captain every trip is a huge benefit. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be 2nd or 3rd year Captain at Compass or Mesa than 4 or 5 year FO at XJT, SKYW, or Eagle.