Originally Posted by hindsight2020

I think the wildcard is timing. Excluding those who will always be unhappy because they don't make 250K a year with 20 days off a month, most of us could squeeze a modest living doing something we enjoy (flying) making 80-100K end game, even more if the wife works. The problem is that there are tough barriers to entry at different points in the career ladder, and depending on what stage in life you are in you might be outright priced out of it. I use the career changers as a perfect illustration of my point. Most of these people always complain of the boring life they had and how they long to do something they have a passion about, but most all the time their answer to first year regional pay is "I tapped into my savings". Well that's great you can do that (it's dumb imo but that's your choice) but it doesn't say much about the viability of this career for people that need to put food on the table for more than one mouth. You can choose to put your family through that hardship, but most people don't. Fair or not, the career is molded for people with little financial responsibility at the onset, since it is a de facto college living. I don't have kids and my fiance works as well, but even one year at 20K would set me back years, and I'm in 26.


I think if I were a senior regional CA living on base, unless my base closed, I wouldn't move an inch. Yes, the decision to stay at a regional is monetarily short-sighted on a long term basis, but it might be worth no more reserve, extra time away from home and avoiding possible commute and/or relocation to another base due to a move to the majors; at an age where you probably have school aged children, the wife likes her job and the family is established with roots in the community. Not for everyone I guess.