First, starting over at a regional is easier said than done. Going through training, new hire pay, probation, reserve and enduring 1st year pay again at a REGIONAL absolutely sucks!! Been there, done that, and I can tell you it is not fun and I never want to do it again! I could have applied and gone to Colgan, Mesaba, Republic, CommutAir and all the quicky upgrade time places at that time, but look where they are now? The only guys I know that upgraded "quickly", as in 1.5 yrs or so where the ones that went to CommutAir. They make about $5 or so more an hour as CA than I do as FO and work under a far worse contract than we have, and guess what? They all have their magical 1000 TPIC time, but DL, UA, AA, etc. hasn't called them to offer them a job. I wonder why? Oh yeah, there are thousands of other qualified CAs who have 3-5000 hrs of TPIC.

The reason i didn't even think about applying at Colgan, CommutAir, etc, was because if sh!t hits the fan again, you are stuck with crap pay and crap contract or you can go start over at another regional and chase that upgrade again. I applied and interviewed at Compass a few years ago, but was not offered the job at that time.

Yes, TSA, Mesa, PSA are all growing, getting new shiny jets, but that can all change in a heartbeat and look at their contracts and work rules... Crap!

To me, enduring crap pay and work rules that significantly affect my QOL in "hope" of a quick upgrade simply isn't worth it. I'm not whoring myself out anymore and there is more to life than flying airplanes.

This is my opinion only and everyones priorities are different. I look forward to moving up a number when Trip7 quits and goes to Mesa or TSA for his quick upgrade.