Looking at all of these regional rates just makes me scream "Don't fall for it!" in my head, directed at all of the guys at those regionals. Get the hëll out of the regionals, even if it means going to somewhere that you don't like as much. It is better to wait for a legacy call when you're sitting somewhere that has the same name on the paint of the airplane and the paycheck. Also, the regionals are paying these rates because they are desperate. With pay rates that high, their cost structure is going to put them out of business and/or the legacies will simply take that flying back and fly regional jets in-house because it is cheaper to do it in-house rather than farm it out to an expensive regional. Personally, I think this is just a sign that the regionals are going to finally go the way of the do-do bird. At long last.

As for why someone should go to Spirit (or JetBlue), there are lots of reasons. Someone said in a previous post that AA pilots make more. I don't think that's true. Their pay rates may be higher, but there is far more to pay than just the pay rate. I bet that a Spirit guy who hustles a little on the X list (VDA days for JetBlue) earns more than an AA guy. And their work rules suuuuuuuuuuuck. The grass isn't always greener.