Ok guys, fair enough. Which regional would you suggest for stability and sanity whenever hiring resumes? With the state of the majors, I'm quite ready to accept the possibility of staying there for a career.
Also, are you saying that it would be nonsense for me to hope for a reasonable commute out of AVL with any regional? Are you saying I'll be better off moving to a base because of my family?
As for instructing being the way to start, I "started" working in the flight training business in 2001 as a manager. Many of the career pilots that trained at the schools I managed have been at the regionals for years. I only have 1100 hrs because I rode the desk for so many years. I want to fly more. I'm not against going back to management, I just LOVE flying and I really want to. I also want to see the world. But if I go back to management, it HAS to be for a company that actually cares about excellence (instead of just talking about it.)