I was flying corporate as well during 911, and 2008 and fortunate enough to still hold a good paying job. Bad times in business aviation indeed. Yes they furloughed 500 pilots and they were out on the street for a good 5 years before all of them were offered a recall. They were way overstaffed at the time and hired too many pilots, thats not the case now. Why do I think it's better? How about pay for starters ($82-60k a year to start depending on scd) plus overtime you don't even have to try for, all major medical insurance is 100% covered by the company(saves a family of 4 about $5-6k a year), 56 cents on the dollar 401k match(not many companies I know of offer this), home basing so no more commuting, perdiem you pretty much pocket because you get crew food (up to 4 meals a day). Keep all your hotel points, airline miles, and credit card miles. 2 weeks of vacation to start which translats to about 6 weeks of vac time on the 7 and 7 schedule. How about the Atlantic Bucks and fuel programs the pilots benefit from, which usually translates to a couple grand or more in gift card's a year. Tell me which regional will offer as much to start. Let's not even compare work rules and the strength of a regional union to that of Netjets.

The negative. Woefully slow upgrade times, loading bags (not really that bad), stocking the provisions and wiping down the interior, not many schedule's to choose from. Never know where you will be from day to day while on duty.

If I was looking to get back in, while applying to the majors I think l'd rather hang out at a good fractional then a regional. Guess it all depends on the individuals needs. Just offering another suggestion to the OP, as he wouldn't take near the hit pay and benefits as he would going to a regional.

I don't see why you think a regional is better.... it's really isn't.