+1 to what others have already weighed in. You are hugely overreacting if you think upper 30's is too old to upgrade at DL, and look elsewhere. Upgrade timing got crazy fast in the chaos following Covid, and those quick upgrades should be ignored completely. Historically, it took around 80% to have a chance at captain (a recent upgrades graph can be found here). So the question you need to ask yourself, is how long would it take you to reach 80% system seniority, or a little more if you wanted a more senior base? It's been talked about a lot here and there, but for someone hired in January, it will be at least 5 years, probably closer to 7-8 - at least for planning purposes. Depending on solid growth that number could be shorter. But again, by historical standards, that's pretty normal. (keep in mind, over the next couple of bids, called AE's, the percentage will probably dip into the low-mid 70's because we haven't had many captain vacancies in the last 9+months, but it will very likely level back out around 80% in time)

IOW, come on in, the water is just fine. Just have realistic expectations (and which are in line with historical averages). Good luck.