To recap:
You have NO ONE saying it's great--not even that it's good or even OK or mediocre. You have NO ONE saying things are trending up or likely to get better (or even break even); most say things are going rapidly in the other direction. I don't think I've seen really ANYONE say how happy they are. The best (potentially management) trolls can say is "well, it may not be as bad as blah blah blah." Think about that--the best anyone can say is 'well, it may not be as bad as.......' This of a once crown jewel airline where people were fighting to get in the door.
Have you heard ANYONE say anything positive about career aspects here ? There are certainly SOME good things--but how many of these had anything to do with the job or job satisfaction (or even potential career progression) ?
Seniority is everything in any airline career. So ANY time you spend parked somewhere is lost money and lost lifestyle if you go anywhere else. In POS 18, you're looking at a contract that IMHO is substantially worse than most US major low cost carriers (and that's living in Hong Kong with no labor laws to speak of and phenomenal costs).
Pretty much EVERYONE who has left (and cares to drop by and say something) has said how happy they are and how good their life is going (and back on track)--and what a good decision they made TO leave. Even if they've gone to a non-flying job. They didn't have to do this; I think a great deal of it is out of legitimate concern for others. It's a great catharsis to make a mistake (or not necessarily a mistake at the time but circumstances changed and turned out badly toward the end) and relay your experience to others--as pilots we do this extensively by passing on info to our fellow pilots. Have you read anything from anyone who's left which says they might have made a mistake by leaving ? For those staying have you heard anything other than "well, I'm older and kinda stuck ?" If you were driving a car (at least with some experience behind you and really wanting to get somewhere vice playing bulletproof redneck) would you try to blast through a field of quicksand, or would you look for a somewhat longer route around where you wouldn't get stuck and lose your car (and potentially you) ?
A person can talk himself or herself into some pretty crazy things. I might suggest speaking with others whose opinion you value. Often I've gotten a good 'sanity check' by bouncing ideas off others -- it's OK to abandon a bad idea.
If you do decide to take the plunge anyway, and wind up wondering where you went wrong, well it was right here. You were more than warned about what you were getting into.
Life's short and no one knows how many todays one gets. I wouldn't waste them.