Originally Posted by 100LL

Say anyone joined a regional today, with the thousands of pilots way above you on the seniority list at every single airline aren't your chances pretty grim getting into a major anytime soon? As major pilots retire they will soak up the higher up regional captains or even some of those regional FOs that never upgrade mixed in with military pilots, you could see your major airline upgrade in 20 years or more. It's quite a long time living a lower paying job to begin with even though you will initially make a small pay cut after making the switch to a major. At least pay rates make a big jump after a couple years.