Some guys would rather work for a company that will work for them...maybe 2-4 years ago when they got hired at XYZ Airline - things weren't so shaded gray. I was looking at SKW because of the locations they had - being 25 minutes from a base sitting reserve would have been cake. I could get another part time job to supplement my income and still make a 2 hour call-out.

"Chasing the upgrade" is exactly that...is it possible in today's state of affairs - sure! But don't base the chase on the dangling carrot - use cold hard facts...example: Compass' flow to Delta...25% of the pilot group or 20/month in one year. Now that Delta has started the train - it's going to leave a void at Compass...a company that the pilots don't mind going to work at.

Base what choice you make upon what you can live with and to a certain extent - what you can tolerate...but don't drag the pilot group down with you because you aren't happy making $19/hour at Mesa because you want a quick upgrade.

Just my .02