My buddy (nice guy, non-complaining type) just resigned from Empire as they were offering him an upgrade to Capt in the ATR. He says the pay isn't good, some questionable maint. and they are beginning to have some tension between management and the pilots. To upgrade, you must sign another training contract. So, one for new hires and one for upgrades. I can't elaborate though. He decided to go to Xjet and start all over again as an FO.