My story was pretty much the same as Tailstand. When I got out of the Navy, Delta required 20/20 vision. SWA required an $8K type rating for an interview. NWA, CAL, FedEx, USAir and AA weren't hiring. UPS paid less than AS. UAL told my UAL recommendation guy I was overqualified with 5200 hours of military flight time.

Looking back, AS was a pretty good career considering the state of the industry subsequently.

Today? Given the state of hiring you would be selling yourself short to take AS over the Big 3 or FedEx/UPS. In this environment, AS is just another stepping stone. The senior guys are, of course, locked in.

Unless you're dead set on living in SEA/PDX/ANC there are better options out there.