Thanks all - you make some salient points. Getting an unbiased opinion is difficult - no one wants to talk down on what they’ve worked damn hard to get. Even though this forum tends to go off on tangents, for the most part it’s pilots generously putting their time into helping people like me on deciding their futures, so thanks a million for your contributions & honesty!
FYI I’m already 787 LH, so I am familiar with the lifestyle but if I was to pick based on what I’ve read, it has to be Virgin.. I do like the idea of having SH in the back pocket for the future, and will be hard to turn down the variety of BA so it is a big trade off..
The one bug bear for me is the unknown future of the company. Whilst I appreciate no one has a crystal ball, where do people in virgin see the company going with the new acquisitions and Branson pretty much out the picture?
Optimistically, I think it could have a hugely exciting future. There’s just a small part of me that threats about the long term game plan of Delta & AF KLM, and what their plans are for an iconic but loss making brand.. (I’ve got over 30 years to go (eek))