FWIW with the massive (sarcasm) $20.73/hr pay rate and low per diem rate if you fly a line (no reserve) you CAN hit $2500/mo. I am on my way to $28K on my 2007 W-2 even with the first 2 months of the year on reserve. The "system" can be worked. Last month I credited 110hrs of pay, flew 98 and didn't even dip into open time. This month looks just as promising due to being bought off for a couple trips and being reassigned trips that happen to go 3 hours over the original time and get tagged at 150% (contract). They are SUPER short on pilots so those who are here (especially living in base) can make 1.5x pay often if you want to dip into open time and get that 100hrs/mo- I will not get into the "helping the company" argument by picking up open time.. cause most line holders (including myself) CAN'T since the lines are built to 95hrs, but you can do some swaps (got my bday and a couple weekends off ) and end up with an extra couple hours of pay which gets tagged at 150%. I CANNOT wait til a contract shows up, but in the meantime its not pure hell (as long as you are a lineholder). If you are young- or even just unattached and dont mind working for the time/pay you can do ok til the upgrade class starts. I am only away from home 10 nights this whole month. In the meantime I will get back to enjoying my 16 days off! It will not be a year to brag about but to fly 1000 hours of jet time and make $28K when only making $21 an hour isn't bad- not to mention the fact that we are NOT signing unless we get RETRO PAY!!! I am not saying its for everyone, but if you live in a base and want to work some long, hard hours to get your "dues" paid in a hurry the company is worth consideration. There are positives and negatives to every company and there is always something that could be better, but there are companies that do pay worse first year with a longer upgrade and work rules that are simply the FAA rules.