1. Try and Live in base, it can make 11 days off and reserve, or a horrible line feel like a cake walk.(I personally commute, I dont have kids so it doesnt bother me spending up to 12 hours extra per trip commuting. Usually more like 6hours total roundtrip. Sometimes the night before. It would be nice to live in base though. Just prefer where I am at now from a social life standpoint)
2. Pick the airline with the most seniority movement. Many regionals are top heavy with "lifers", while others have almost none. Im not gonna name them all, but some have much better movement than others due to this fact. Pm me if you want to. Iv been at my airline less than 2 years, usually hold 16-18 off and an 80 hour line as an FO, or could be almost off reserve as Capt. I also commute, but thats a personal choice. Would be even better if I lived in base, but I like my current town better and the commute is easy.
An airline with alot of movement DOES NOT mean pilots hate the company. Especially at the regionals. At a major level? Sure, thats not a good sign. But regionals? No. The whole point is to get our time and get out. Movement is a good sign.
If people are turning down better jobs to stay at a regional, they have drank wayyyy to much company koolaid. Take compass for example, lots of movement, very happy group. Attrition out of 800 or so pilots is 10-20 a month. Sometimes much, much more. All majors/legacies. Maybe 5 lifers. Other places, a good portion of the Capt list is lifers. Thats not good for younger guys looking to move on.