Yea for real though, I disagree with the suggestion that you return your bonus and leave. You will likely end up regretting that when you have to explain why you left in the first phase of training. You’re on the books and it’s on your PRIA forever. Future employers will see it and will ask about it. I know I would not hire a pilot that’s willing to quit because things don’t come down their way in the drop. That’s something to think about. If you’re just mad because you don’t want to fly the CRJ, I truly have zero sympathy. If you’re upset because you want nothing to do with Chicago or commuting, I can understand where you’re coming from and suggest that you do everything you can to make your time there the most bearable it can be.

While the market has certainly changed in the last few years, there is certainly something to be said about following though with your commitments. Do you want your resume to tell the reader that you can grin and bear it on an assignment you don’t like or would you rather it tell a story of someone who flakes out when things don’t turn out the way you wanted them to.

Hang out for 24 months, learn a thing or two, build your contacts, research options, put the bonus into an investment account or towards something worthwhile and leave when you truly have better options and nobody has anything they can hold over you for it. There will always be better deals out there and in two years they may even be better yet.

But you do you...