OP, the decision obviously comes down to you and your unique set of circumstances. If it’s gnawing at you and you think you’ll really regret not pursuing it then I’d go for it.

Times and the 121 landscape have change DRASTICALLY for the better since 2009, especially the ease at getting hired at a regional, upgrade times, and the compensation package. Actually, I’m blown away how much more desperate they’ve become for pilots even in the last year.

It’s now gotten to the point where some are shutting down or have shut down because of lack of pilots. This retention “problem” is presently starting to trickle into the smaller airlines such as JetBlue, Spirit, Sun Country, Frontier, etc. and the rate at which it’s accelerating is breathtaking to say the least.

Literally in the last several months I’ve started to read about the ULCCs now having to possibly limit growth plans because they won’t be able to attract/retain enough pilots which is crazy and a lot different landscape than when you left the profession.

Also at play is the massive wave of retirements this decade at the Big 3 legacy airlines and Big 2 cargo airlines. This will create built in furlough protection for any pilots that get hired on there as so many are forced to retire above them.

The recently announced Spirit and Frontier marriage is no doubt driven at least partially by wanting to shore up a pilot supply (although I can’t see that really helping the problem that they’re facing).

My point is that all of these “problems” for the industry are major tailwinds for our profession. Let me be blunt. We smell blood in the water and are circling for feeding time (making major gains for our profession and our contracts).

So many of us have been beat down in our careers. Some far worse than others. You got a whiff of that in the late 2000s. This is not The Lost Decade anymore. In fact, it’s quite the opposite and as a profession we want to make significant gains this decade. Barring any great economic crash or black swan event, I’m very confident we will.

As for your particular situation, it’ll probably take 3-5 years for you to get back to 170K but then the earning potential is far higher than that afterwards. You will probably upgrade at a regional as soon as you can get 1000 hours at the company because of how desperate they are for captains right now.

The potential for far more days off than 10 a month is not even a question but as someone else mentioned, those days that you work are actually spent away from home. I guess this all depends on how you and your family would handle you being gone 2-4 days at a time.

Why not go out and get your ATP in a quick course? This would serve to get you current again. A regional airline will be knocking at your door this time around. You won’t even have to upgrade to captain to progress your career because the ULCCs and cargo airlines are hiring regional airline FOs left and right and even some of the big boys are occasionally doing the same (Delta, etc.).

Realistically for you, I can see you as a captain at a ULCC or even a legacy airline by the latter part of this decade if you get on it (Again barring anything more than a routine economic downturn). I wish you had included your age but I’m assuming mid to late 30’s.

Finally, I’ll post a link to some end of year salary surveys for 2021. Take a look at the $/days worked ratio for some people. It can get REALLY good. Keep in mind however that 2020-2021 were one offs as far as pay to time off ratios. For many of us there was a ton of cancelation pay, reroute pay, paid time off, etc. due to Covid so keep that in mind.

Still, even pre-plandemic FOs at my airline SWA were making 120-150K in their second year and 150-200K in their third year if they massaged their schedules some - a lot, all while probably averaging 14-15 days off a month.

Best of luck in whatever path you chose but if it’s really gnawing at you then go for it and this is definitely looking like the decade to do it in.