Originally Posted by harrier1231

If you stay in this field, you will most likely work for the major you get hired on at for the rest of your life, no matter how bad it is. Unless you want to start over at the bottom. If your company furloughs or shuts down, well... you have no choice but to start over at the bottom. That is a huge risk in my book. One I am no longer taking.

Originally Posted by harrier1231

And the option for lateral transfer, and/or transferable skills if your plan A doesn't work out.

There are folks on this thread saying hang in there, things will get better, but that's not the bottom line. The guys at the majors that came in during an upswing aren't necessarily happy. You have no control. Take the guys at United that got pranged by the merger. 16 year FOs still on reserve. Bases still close. Crew scheduling and management still mess with you. The pilots at AA and US Air hate Parker as much as any regional pilot hates their CEO. The things that make this job tough will never go away.

I sit jumpseat cross country twice a week, minimum. I hear the crews from AA, Virgin, United, Delta, etc complain. It's not bubblegum and unicorns for them. You know what they say to me every time I tell them I have an advanced degree in a non-aviation field? "What are you doing here?!"

If you invest what we do into law, medicine, business, engineering and find yourself in a position or at a company you don't like, you look for new work and move on, almost always to increased pay. If you stay in this field, you will most likely work for the major you get hired on at for the rest of your life, no matter how bad it is. Unless you want to start over at the bottom. If your company furloughs or shuts down, well... you have no choice but to start over at the bottom. That is a huge risk in my book. One I am no longer taking.