Take the 50k paycheck...CFI on your days off and at night to build time and pad your finances even more. After 2 years, which is not that long, you hopefully will have been smart enough to save a good amount of money. Now you have the cushion you need to endure a few years of F/O pay and even a furlough. if you have the chance to get ahead, do! It is easy to fall beind the financial curve early on. Also, two years of corporate experience could become very valuable one day if you do get furloughed, or lose your medical. Real world experience on your resume will make you far more marketable in the job hunt than just a degree. In two years, the industry should hopefully being nearing the end of the shakedowns...how much more can we endure? yes, you will be farther down the seniority list wherever you end up, but you should be able to find some airline with quick upgrade somewhere (colgan will forever be hiring), and in short order you can be right back up with your current peers who went to a company with longer upgrade time. I fell two years behind myself, and am now positioned to reach a major earlier than my friends at Eagle and Comair. And my friends who went for Colgan after me may get there even earlier than me. You can make the situation work out in your favor. Also, many regionals are flirting with furloughs right now. Major airlines are forcing the regionals to compete against each other for flying, and the "solid" contract someone like Chautauqua has with USAir could evaporate overnight and all the flying could end up at Mesa. I say sit this mess out for two years in a job that offers you financial security, a chance to build your "plan B" career, and gives you enough free time to fly on the side and build your flight experience (get that MEI and use it!). i don't think you will be sorry