most "reports from the field" indicate that by the time you hit Year-3 FO pay (which is almost Year-3 F9 Captain pay) at Big-3, you are back in the black and have recovered any "lost earnings."

Don't forget 17% 401k contributions, versus Frontier 15%.

Circa 2022-2024, Delta was upgrading FO's to Capt in 2 years. AA had a 26 year old Captain, upgraded in ??? 2 years.

met a Spirit pilot a few weeks ago who declined a Delta CJO last year, because "he believed in Spirit and liked his schedule"

he told me he regretted his decision and just hopes things improve soon

good luck to all of us