Honestly the only time I questioned my choices to jump into aviation late in life (mid-thirties) was when I was a junior captain at Skywest. Movement is pretty slow there in the left seat due to all the lifers (I think there are less of them now), especially on the west coast. The abuse you get on reserve is pretty insane. I can't for a second imagine being a DEC there where you literally never move up. I upgraded at the end of 2017 so covid hit soon after that and movement slowed. I remember sitting in my rented room over Christmas and not being able to get ahold of my family thinking what the hell am I doing. It gets a little better with seniority, but the work rules there are abysmal and nobody cares to fix it cuz they're either senior enough to not feel it or think they'll be out of there before it matters.
Signed: someone who fought to get ALPA onboard for over 5 years.
Signed: someone who fought to get ALPA onboard for over 5 years.