Originally Posted by rickair7777

Generally...

Essentially all corporate gigs have one or more serious drawbacks relative to airlines...

- Arbitrary management (which can change suddenly).
- Low pay, relative to major airlines. Private operators are only willing to pay a pilot so much, but airline unions extract a percentage of the revenue and a widebody can generate a whole lot of revenue.
- Poor work rules. Sometimes on call 24/7 for short notice, ie can't be too far away or drink alcohol... EVER. You may to to make coffee and clean the toilet. You may have to do non-pilot work on non-flying days (some rich guys don't like paying pilots to sit around at home).
- Poor safety standards and/or maintenance. In some cases it's about money, in other cases the boss (typically non-pilot rich guy) is in charge and makes the go/no-go decision. Don't like it? Find a new job.
- Low job security. Economic downturns, business problems, family personality issues, all of these can cause the jet to go away with little or no notice. The jet is always the first thing to go...

Even if you find the perfect (ie ""unicorn") corporate gig, that last issue is always present. If you lose a job, it typically takes a while to find another one, and you're going to have to move (can't commute like airline guys).

There are pros to corporate flying, but they vary with the individual gig. Typically home most nights, much less actual flying, and you get to bank points for things like hotels and rental cars. Overnight accommodations are "usually" going to better than regional airlines.

Bottom line, due to the high demand signal at the majors, increasing pay, and forecast rapid seniority movement many corporate pilots are moving to majors right now.

Now if the question is what's the best stepping stone to the majors, regional or corporate, then the answer is almost certainly regionals. You'll get 121 time, more of it and faster.