This was my offer when the recency issue started to come up: "What if I take $20,000 of my own money and go rent an MU2 and fly that around the country all week to get current?" (I used to fly them on Fed check runs).

My argument: "Since you're going to start me at $20,000 a year more than a regional, it will come out the same in the end and I don't have to spend two months in training, go through IOE, buy a uniform, buy an ipad (and a mount and spare battery), and be miserable while I sit reserve for a company I only expect to work at short term."

They didn't buy that either.