Eagle has been an interesting thought process for me; of course I am talking as someone with 0 ratings looking WAY down the road right now.
However, I will be doing my training at ATP in GKY, and now more than likely, moveing there as well. Eagle would make it easy to live in base if I could get that assignment. And, above all else, Eagle is a good company to work for from what I can see.
I think there is more to it than just the concern of getting plopped in a bum location for a year min, and alot have already hit on it:
1) Even the hopes of the best case scenario,a miraculous drop from 7 to 4 years for left seat upgrade, is more than the industry average right now; quite a bit more than the really low ones that are at around 2 years. That scares me I guess.
2) The notion that you could again be displaced by flowbacks should the industry go south is also a bit scary. That is countered a LITTLE by the notion that you get preferential treament when moving up to the big boys.
3) I have always wondered how long I would be able to handle the many short hoppers. Getting stuck doing Killeen to Dallas day in and out would suck! The kind of flying a company like XJet does is much more appetizing; travelling longer distances, seeing more places, less legs per day.
I dunno, it seems to me we are not to the pinnacle of the hiring boom yet. Less and less individuals are getting into the career. Something is gonna have to give and my guess is that the regionals are going to have to make things more appetizing.