Originally Posted by ZapBrannigan

Yeah, my wheels are turning. Just trying to think it all through. I'm 48, been here about 8 years. I'm married with a 15 year old son. I've been flying for a living since 1996, a bunch of airlines, a bunch of furloughs and some corporate flying and I've never had the opportunity to upgrade under part 121. Maybe it sounds lame, but after doing this for 26 years, I want to be a Captain.

so I've been thinking about this a lot. You're right about the sick time of course. My Dad was an airline pilot and my first CFI. He's 76 and I sure would like to upgrade while he's still alive to see it.

On the other hand, Oakland looks like a bear of a commute from the middle of the country. Is it nuts to want to commute from one domicile to another to sit weekend reserve? Will my son resent me doing that and missing out on college tours and competitions etc during the last couple years of high school? If I don't do it, will I resent him for holding me back?

What if there's another black swan event that creates stagnation or backwards movement for another half decade? A merger? Age 70? Would I regret not taking it when I had the chance if that happened?

I want to do it while I'm young enough to enjoy it. I'm at that age where I'm seeing an old man in the mirror and wondering where the time went.

I'm still 500-1000 numbers out so it's most likely still a year or two away - but with the ETOPS seat lock as the monkey wrench that might create some additional bypassers, I just don't want to be caught by surprise and end up upgrading this summer or next without being comfortable with my vacancy bid regardless of what happens.