You are right regarding going from executive to the mailroom. However, like I said my boss at AON was fired. He made 300k a year. After he was let go, he found another job with Alstate, I know this because I saw him when I was flying to Phoenix, AZ from Chicago, IL. I asked if he took a pay cut, and he said half. I knew what he made at Aon, so in essence he took a 150K cut. That is pretty large. At a regional, just like any other job, you start out at the bottom of the pay scale. The difference between a pilot gaining seniority, and a someone moving up in the business world is that as you move up in corporate america you work more and get paid more, as a pilot you work less and get paid more. By the way, you can make a great living at a regional. Like I said before, my friend is a 7yr CA at Skywest and made over 110k last year. He isnt worried at all about his job, and loves it. I do understand where you are coming from, but crap exists in all industries. Right now, the airline and auto industries are the bad apples, and you know the saying, "the bad apples always stick out more than the good ones".