Originally Posted by OpenClimb

I wish there was a way to go back in time 20 years so that you could follow my career progression. I’d tell you to watch what I did and then do the exact opposite! I’ve pretty much made the wrong decision every time a decision needed to be made.

Without boring you with all the details, most of my bad decisions can be summed up by pointing out that I was chasing “quality of life” early in my career instead of attaining whatever the best airlines were looking for in terms of hiring criteria.

Things change and there’s no way to know *exactly* what the best airlines will want, but PIC and Education are constant themes. The more you have of both, the more options you’ll have.

Warning: Old Fart advice ahead... “Quality of life” will be more important to you 10 years from now than it is today. The platitude posters are mostly wrong when they say money can’t buy happiness. If you have a bunch of excess money, the annoyances of life can be mitigated. If your pay scale is high enough and you’re not working for a bottom feeder ULCC, you can afford to work less and spend more time at home even if you’re commuting. You won’t feel like your spouse has to work which will mean more quality time when you’re home. You can hire out more time consuming and undesireable tasks around the house.

Yes, the industry goes up and the industry goes down. I remember for a brief flash in time, F9 pilots were being paid better than UAL narrowbody pilots. That was a short-lived anomaly. As I’ve said in previous posts, yes, all airlines have issues. F9 continues to struggle with BS Third World style issues while better airlines have First World issues.

TL/DR: Do NOW whatever it takes to get on with a high quality airline ASAP because you’ll appreciate the QOL this provides between age 30 and retirement MUCH more than the limited improvement you’ll see by taking the instant gratification of going to a less desirable ULCC today.

My humble opinion as a 50 year old, 2nd career, 14 year F9 guy. Take it (or leave it) for what it’s worth!