Skyrice, if you have the bug go for it.

In most cases a four year degree won't be a limiting factor to getting hired at a regional however it will be at a major. In some cases it's a requirement for the position. If you want to get in, and get a number to start moving up you may want to consider an online degree from a reputable university. I've had a ton of time in the last four days sitting here on this board killing time. I'd imagine it would be possible to work on that degree while sitting in the hotel room. It's too cold in MKE to go out anyway

There are a number of things you can do to build time however because of insurance requirements there aren't many things you can do outside of flight instructing. Finding an instructing job isn't hard these days and if you're willing to work it's more than possible to log 100 hours a month and move on fairly quickly.

As far as pay, it's anybody's guess. It's really all about when you get in. Right now, upgrades are happening because there is a ton of movement. This can change in a heartbeat. In the last few months junior captain has gone from about 5 years to one year. Timing is everything. If you're sitting in the FO seat at my airline, you might get back to your current income level at year three. If upgrades keep going the way they are going, you're doing better in two years. If you've been smart with your money and live within your means I'd imagine that you'd be looking at about 3 years before you're back to your quality of life in today's airline environment.

The 777 to Heathrow is more than possible. Continentinental has been putting new hires into widebodies. I think Delta has too. Go to a regional with a fast upgrade, make friends, get some PIC and have your resume walked in. You never know.

Last but not least, I don't think pilots as a whole are more disgruntled than any other profession. One of the things that makes it so bad is the intamacy (for lack of a better word) of the job. You're sitting in the front with a contemporary for a number of days in a row with a bulletproof door between the two of you and the outside world. You're spending hours of time at a relatively low workload looking for crap to talk about. Guess what? People complain about their jobs. When you're junior I can see how it's tough to have a family life. However as a senior lineholder with some flexibility in schedule I could argue that it's easier than having a 9 to 5 because most in the corporate world spend much more time working and commuting than they do at home. With days off during the week it would be easier to get involved with your kids' school and extracurricular stuff like sports, get the things done around the house that need to be done during the week and enjoy the time off with them.