As much as I hate to see good people go to other airlines, I would also vote for living in base. In regard to wide body flying, keep in mind just how senior our WB flying is. The last vacancy had the 80% EWR 777 FO sitting around 7,900. That means your buddy will either be commuting to a NB line or WB reserve for close to 10 years! I know a few people who commute to global reserve and make it work, but it can be rough (especially in the summer).