Longarm,

You have to ask yourself, "how important is the money?". The first couple of years at any airline will require you to take a significant pay cut if you already have a good established career doing something else. I had enough money to pay for the training and get myself through the tough years as an FO.

The next question is, "what are your long term goals?". If you intend to make a regional your career, then you should probably not choose Colgan. In the long run, you are better off getting a job at x-jet or one of the other regionals that can make you more money as a captain. If, like me, you plan on moving to a major or fractional, Colgan is a great place to be. Upgrade is pretty fast and within 3-4 years you could start applying to the majors. Colgan has graduated many pilots who move on to Continental, FedEx, etc.

When you move on to a major or a fractional, time away from home is a reality. I have not yet decided what my next move is after Colgan. For one thing, the airline industry changes quickly and there is just no way to predict how things will be 3 or 4 years from now when I'm ready to move on. Fortunately, my Colgan base positions me close to many good major, corporate and fractional bases. I don't anticipate having to move my family again. As far as the 3-4 day trips are concerned, I probably will not enjoy it very much but having 15 days off per month is still better than my previous career. I often was working 6 days per week and had little time to spend with my family. When you figure in the good salary at the majors, coupled with flight benefits and time off, it seems like a pretty good career choice for me.

Talk it over with your wife and make sure she is onboard with your plans. This is the most important thing to make the family thing work. BTW, I am in my mid 30's and it took me about 2 years from the time I decided to change careers to landing my job at Colgan. Hope this helps. Good luck!