If you are flying for the state and are happy, no reason to take a pay cut unless money is not a problem at the moment. 66k is a good salary for being home every night.

Yes, and Especially if you have good Bennies and live in a place that has a lower cost of living.

Making 66,000 a year in a lower cost area is like making 100,000 in a big city.

I've been at Awac for four years. I highly enjoy working here. Pay is good, schedules are good, mgmt is usually easy to get along with, etc. I'm happy here. That said, I'll gladly trade you for your state job.

I have a State job making around 40K. I haven't had raise in years and don't forsee one anytime soon. Here there is no room for advancement but I will have a defined benefit retirement of around 75% of base that I can begin collecting at 55. Despite all this, I'd like to leave too.

Ask yourself/your family these questions:

Why do you want to leave your current job that pays more than you will ever make as an FO at any regional?

Are you willing to relocate to one of our bases or are you willing to commute?

Are you able to be on the road for 5-6 days at a time while on reserve? Probably more if the answer to the first question was commute.

Can you survive on first year pay, or second for that matter?

If you go through those questions and still want to come for an interview, give it a shot. You're not wasting the interviewers time by showing up while unsure if you even want the job. You're Interviewing the company as much as they're interviewing you. All I can say is you can do far worse than Air Wisconsin. They treat you pretty well here, really well for regional standards, and our insurance is phenomenal.