I never understood the "golden handcuffs" argument from regional lifers.

Plenty of guys in their 40s are starting over at the bottom of the majors, with all of the same family, kids, money, and quality of life challenges mentioned above.

Our families are more important than our careers, too...and that "marginal benefit" obtained by the "upheaval" of moving on to a major airline is to the tune of about $3+ million of additional income (depending on where you go to work, of course) over the course of the rest of the flying career. In addition, once you get past those initial painful years of reserve, commuting, etc, the schedules and work rules are substantially better at the majors than at the regionals. That translates to more time at home for the next couple decades -- if you so choose to even work that long, since smart financial planning will allow you to retire before 65 (or 67!).

Yes, the upheaval is a pain in the dong, but if you really care about your family life then the financial and schedule reward they will pretty quickly have after you've made the jump to the majors is a worthy payoff.

Anyone who will take the time to sit down and run the numbers can see this if they want to. Unfortunately, I think so many lifers can't get past the very temporary pain of bottom-of-the-list reserve and commutes to crappy domiciles. I get it that some folks have a schedule and money that they are "content" with, and have heard all of the "there are things more important than money" arguments, but ultimately the benefit on the other side of the pain is just too good to pass up, IMHO.