Don't chase a plane... That goes to all of you guys looking to get hired out there. There's many more important factors you should be considering before that. If your career goal is to fly "big jets", they're not at the regional level. Try and get yourself in a position where an upgrade is atleast on the horizon. Get yourself into the left seat, and keep your fingers crossed you can get on at mainline where you'll fly your big jet.

Things that should be considered when applying, interviewing, and accepting offers from regionals: Commute, pay, work rules, stability (or lack there of, we are talking about regionals), did I say work rules? There are a lot of things I wish people would have told me before I dove in head first to the industry, but those are the big ones. It's good to see you guys asking questions on here, there's a lot of good info. Make sure you're inquiring about the things that are really going to affect your life for the foreseeable future. You'll be an FO for a while, and your SIC time isn't worth a turd burger.

Hope for a quick upgrade, vote for better contracts, and there might just be a snowball's chance in hell that 20 years from now the industry will be in better shape than when we entered it.

As for your particular situation 1985, leaning one way or the other with Republic or Eagle is a tough call. I'd say the good at Eagle out weighs the good that Republic has at the moment. The only kicker with Eagle is there's a lot of talk of AMR kicking them to the curb. That would definitely stir things up. Best of luck with your decision, hopefully you make it based on the right factors.