This is sent from a silly iPad so excuse the typos/format.

I'm writing this to defend the CFI who goes to work at an outfit like pinnacle or colgan.

I have them beat. I went to Great Lakes (1999)

I was CFIing in Las Vegas, fresh out of college, making 25 bucks an hour, all cash and no taxes. I did it for 1 full year and was totally fed up with it by that point. Back then, (1999), the only places that would hire a CFI with 100 multi were Lakes, Mesaba, and Co EX (IF you paid for your own training!!). I ruled out Co EX because of the PFT and had interviews at Lakes and Mesaba. I was turned down at mesaba and hired by lakes, and so i went. 11 years, and 4 airlines later, I'm happy with my position.

Sometimes you aren't offered a choice. CFIing gets damn old as well as useless after a while. 2000+ hrs in a 172 simply doesn't help. It's a use/use situation. The airline KNOWS they are using you. It was told to me, during my Lakes interview, point blank: WE don't WANT YOU here longer than 3 years. Upgrade ASAP, get your 1000 PIC turbine, and QUIT. Again, that's what the interviews told me to my face during the interview. My response, YOU GOT IT.

You can use the crappy airline just as they use you. In my case, I stayed 6 months, logged 500 SIC turbine, and quit for a "decent" regional (if there is such a thing....)

The Lakes, Pinnacles, Colgans of the world aren't going to go away. Use them for some turbine time and quit.