Former US Airline Pilot No Longer Qualified - How to get back into it
So back in the heydey (2006-2007), I was hired at a regional, as the high timer in my class, with about 550 hours. I moved to another regional that was on its way out, and long story short, I was furloughed in 2008 with 1300 TT.
Since then, I took the furlough as an opportunity to try my life in the office world. It worked out, I made good money, but I'm looking to recapture some quality of life now as my kids are starting to grow up.
But of course, the rules have now changed. Since I don't have 1500 hours, I'm back to being a "timebuilder" despite 750 hours or so of 121 time. Insult to injury, my university is on the reduced ATP minimums list, but I attended the program before they became 141 so I think I'm not eligible (would love to be told I'm wrong here)
So here I am soliciting ideas on my fastest but most reasonable path towards a major. Complicating things a bit, I'm presently living in Germany, though I intend to move back to the US sometime soon.
My thoughts are:
1) Pay out of pocket for 200 hours of flight time (yuck)
2) Go back to being a CFI for a while (double yuck)
3) Hope I can network myself into some corporate job (appealing but unlikely, and not likely to increase my TT very fast)
4) Convert to a EASA license and get a job at a carrier here? How plausible is this? Would I have to sit all the tests, would I be desired as a pilot with 1300 TT entirely in the US?
5) Any other ideas??
Thanks in advance everyone!