Great responses to my post. I think these are helpful to folks trying to decide between airline/nj. My point is not to push one or the other but to state why I left NJ. The truth is that if that '05 contract had offered less money but better schedule options it would have been a much tougher decision to leave.

I am a commuter, by the way. However, I probably have one of the easiest commutes in the airline industry. I drive an hour to the airport and fly an hour and a half to my domicile. There are plenty of flights and I sit in the cabin nearly every flight. SWA has a great commuter policy as well so I really don't stress about making it or not. Having said that, commuting does add some additional nights away from home, but even with that I like the schedule better. Lately I have had a couple of commutable lines which means no extra nights away but they are rare. Who knows, I may eventually move to a domicile but for now I have a good set up and the family is happy. After all that moving in the military this is great to me.

As for working hard at NJ, I was in the Ultra which was the "entry level" jet for NJ at the time and we worked alot. Anywhere from 4-6 legs a day was common. Though as someone stated many weeks were easy, especially if you got an aircraft with mx issues.

I think the stability at NJ is better at the airlines, because rich folks get hooked on having thier own airplanes like crack cocaine. On the other hand, even NJ has threats (Very light jets, environmental concerns) But lets face it, we all, NJ or airline or corporate or crop duster, chose a shaky profession to be in. We just make the best decisions for our family and enjoy the good times when we can.

For those of you trying to decide what jobs to shoot for here is some unsolicited advice: flying jobs rest on a tripod made of SSS. Salary, Security, and Schedule. Usually one of the three is missing, so you either try to find the one that's most important to you get that job, or a comfortable combination of the three. So far at SWA I have them, but no guarantees exist.

Finally, I used "homeskool" as a joke, given that its image in some folks eyes is of a shoddy education, whereas our experience is that most of the kids we knew were very smart. Our kids are no longer homeskooled but we have the utmost respect for those who are. No offense taken, BTW.

Thanks again for the great, and for a message board very respectful, replies. I wasn't sure of the responses I was going to get and fully expected to take some heat rounds, but this has been a pleasant surprise.

Seacrest out!