FL350,

As far as your question goes. I hated being gone all the time, the low wages, lack of control over ones life and the absence of creativity that the job offered. Flying a Cessna 150 about the pattern offers more inspiration and joy than flying a wide body across the country.

My suggestion is that if you truly love flying you would hate the airlines since they stamp pilots out like beer cans and your job is like the movie Groundhogs Day. The same thing over and over again an unending chain of three and four day trips that trail off into eternity. The pilot makes few decisions and can not stray from the prescribed path and procedures at all. In past postings I have referred to modern day airline pilots as the pinnacle of programed human automation. Pilots are trained to fly exactly the same, use the exact same language dress the same and react the same to every situation. No fun.

As a pilot you also have little influence on the outcome of your career efforts. Most success is based more on luck and connections than how dedicated of an aviator one is. Even now my guess is that by the time you have completed your training and reached a point where you could apply to the regionals the market would have changed dramatically.

As far as pluses go I really enjoyed trips that gave me a day or two layover in New York City and the few times that I was able to stray from standardization.

SkyHigh