Originally Posted by
VacancyBid
Airlines hire when they 1) gain planes or 2) lose pilots. (ie less supply or more demand)
#1 is a possibility as the captain shortage abates and dormant planes see more use
#2 is hard to say as the military/ULCC pipeline may meet all major hiring needs (and reduce regional captain attrition) for awhile
The pipeline of CFI > Regional > Career Job is probably broken or at least narrowed in the near term to special CFI > indentured regional > career job
As a low-time guy (and yes, 2000 hours is back to being low time) your best avenues are probably either 1) balls to the wall, do what it takes or 2) settle into a second tier career trajectory that doesn't require immediate cash/QOL sacrifices
the only thing I'd add is that "regionals" in most cases have become acceptable careers themselves. The compensation and contracts read more like an ULCC or LCC did just a few years ago. Many would choose living 20 minutes from base at a regional over a career of commuting. Are there outliers like CommutAir that still rely on pilots not being willing to sign a training contract, yep. But the better regionals are actually nothing like they were in the 2000's or 20 teens.
Most of these better regionals aren't even regional anymore. They operate coast to coast, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico and even South America. Many are more of a national or even technically, an ACMI with long term CPA's......which is probably most accurate. We just separate the ACMI from "regionals" by the plane size and type of flying.
There are many 737/767/777 operators that fly passenger sub service for other airlines, just usually short term contracts.... but it's the same general idea.