" but 30 years on I get it completely....he told me, 'if you stay in the copilot seat long enough, it wont matter to you what else you can hold, mentally that's what you will permanently become, an FO.....and that's where you will retire.'

total hogwash...30 years ago was a completely different world. Think about it...those guys got hired before they turned 30 (or didn't get hired)..they made a lot more money, flew hundreds of hours per year less, bid lines of time, better trips, better work rules, had stay-at-home wives. I could go on and on. Delta now hires a ton of older military guys...they have a pension and once senior on Delta equipment, aren't moving.

I can't speak for all senior F/O's but those I know stay because of some pretty darn good reasons like a having sick family member, working wife, second jobs, military commitments etc...I've heard of a few that inherited money, receiving military pension... so don't need the money etc.

The older senior guys will probably never bid off...but the younger senior F/O's will probably bid off when they can hold left seat and control their schedules.

Any talk of a pilot developing a permanent F/O mentality sounds exactly like something some dinosaur 30 years ago would have said...but much like lots of things said back then...total hogwash.