Duffman

Definitely going to the majors. Unprecedented movement and retirements over the next 15ish years means that I'll be a captain with a great line in the domicile of my choice by the time the music stops again (I like to leave things vague on the interwebs). Also, the pay is great right now at the regionals, but after 2 years I'll be making more with more days off at a major, as an FO, and the top end is significantly higher. Plus, a major might get reorganized in bankruptcy or merged with another airline, but it'll never cease to exist, so one way or another, I'll always be able to carry that seniority with me. The same can't be said about any regional; just look at Express Jet. Right now there's a good case to stay at a regional vs a low-cost carrier because the regionals generally pay more, although the LCCs have a much better quality of life and upgrade time is so slow at single-fleet carriers, but the regionals can't compare to the legacies/UPS/FEDEX. With the number of retirements coming, even for someone in their 50s, in most cases, they could be either a senior line holder as an FO or a captain with a pretty decent line in most domiciles, and still have years left. There're guys upgrading to captain in junior domiciles (NYC, LAX, etc) in less than a year at Delta and guys going straight to wide bodies out of training at United, although they'll likely spend a few years on reserve. As a general rule of thumb, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, if you're in the bottom third of your equipment/seat in your domicile, you can expect to be on reserve. Reserve is much better at a legacy than at a regional, but the best QoL is with a line. With reserve, you're on-call to pick up open flying and sick call-outs, with call-out periods ranging from 12+ hours (long call at home for a commuter) to 3 hours (short call, should be at a crash pad or in the domicile) to airport standby. If you live in your domicile, reserve can actually be a pretty good deal.