There is a book that talks about following your heart. Follow your heart and let the rest follow. In other words, if your heart is set on flying that wide body international someday, make the jump despite the risk. No risk, no gain. When I was in the military my old DI used to say "Fortune favors the brave." This was before this phrase was made famous in the HBO mini series Band of Brothers.

I took the risk when I jumped into this Part 121 flying gig. If I can't make the jump to the majors in the next few years, I maybe going back to corporate flying.

I am not advocating everyone to make the jump. I understand some of you have invested a considerable amount of time at your regional and don't really care to fly the widebody. There are many very senior pilots at XJ who are content with their position and they are making well over $100,000 a year with weekends off. Each to his own.

But in the long run, I have to agree with Superpilot that you will wind up in a better position if you make the jump. Just look at the payrate for DAL and compare that to the best regionals out there. 3rd year DAL FO makes around $90/hour. That's close to what a 17 year CA makes at XJ on the CRJ900.