Originally Posted by Policepilot

Need some advice from you guys/gals that are living it. I was furloughed from Eagle in 2011 after 10 days in training and went to Expressjet and flew for a year, loved it but, pay sucked, had a mortgage, family, child support, maxed out credit cards to survive, so I left the industry and went back to being a cop full time. I have since promoted to Sergeant and am making good money. I fly King Airs on the side and have stayed current. Never thought about returning to a regional, ever ,because of the awful pay so I stopped paying attention to it. A few months ago some friends told me about some of the positive changes in pay in the recent years and the flow to American. Things sound pretty good now. I know I will have to take a pay cut for a few years if I return. My question for y'all, is it worth it to walk away from my current (stable) career, rank, lifestyle for Envoy? I will never make 6 figures in my agency (Chief doesn't even make 100K) and the retirement sucks. 25 - 35 year veteran officer still can't afford to retire. I want to give my son a better life than I had, which wasn't bad at all. I am locked to Texas because of my child custody and want DFW, preferably in the 175 but I don't think that will go my way at 33 years of age. Regionals need pilots more than I need a job right now, but I don't want to miss my chance getting back in at a good time. Once bitten, twice shy. Help me decide!