This 100%. I would have killed for our company to offer VLOA or even better, a PLOA program for the aircraft I am on because I have opportunities I could explore while still having the pilot job as a backup if I really wanted it down the road. If I could get paid $100K+ a year and home almost every night, I would take it in a heartbeat.

This job isnt worth it until you are making north of $150K and even then, its a stretch. Sure, mainline captain pay and qol are about as good as you get, but that takes lots of time, risk and faith. Who knows how much you might miss between now and then, assuming of course it is even there when you get to it or worse, you cant maintain your health long enough.

I know there are some on here that will dispute this, but there are companies in the market doing everything in their conceivable power to remove pilots from the equation, or at least minimize us. We will see it in our careers to some extent, it's just a matter of how much. Add in that the companies we work for are also highly incentivized to remove us and you have a situation.