You can. Everyone in my indoc that wanted it got it before systems even. Apparently it’s filled with short legs from old dash8 routes, so it’s not drawing a huge crowd.

I haven’t flown the line yet, but of the 8 captain upgrades in my systems class, none of them seem to think of Piedmont as negatively as it’s presented here. You gotta pick what’s best for you. It was the best choice for me for reasons similar to yours, rtp partner school nearby, and one leg commutable. Other regionals are no doubt better in some or many other aspects, especially pay and schedule, but I’m planning on getting my time and moving on. They know it too, and don’t seem to mind. Even at indoc when they were explaining benefits they didn’t go past 5 years because as the instructor said “by then if any of you are still here, it won’t be for long anyway”