Re: Turboprop command or Jet FO
I agree with the general gist of the posts above. It has to be an individual decision based on your career goals and lifestyle choices. It sounds to me like you want to ultimately fly jets. If that is the case I would view your choices from a business sense point of view. Make the choice based on a strategy; if you want to fly LHS, say 747 for BA or Virgin, then you have to come up with a strategy that will get you the required hours/ experience that will make you marketable to these airlines. Plan out the various routes to that LHS and estimate timescales. Come up with first choice and backup routes to that seat.
I know guys who have been in your position who have allowed their heart to make the decision for them without really appreciating the market forces that may come into play later. As Norman Stanley Fletcher comments, becoming a TP Captain and then Training Captain is not doing you as many favours as you would think it might if you are still dreaming of that LHS on a 747. With a seniority based system I always think you are better joining at the bottom ASAP and doing your time. Sure you will not get as much enjoyment as flying into the Highlands and Islands airports, but, I assume that if your plan is LHS 747 then ETOPS and Newark would be more of what appeals to you anyway! The TP and command experience will always benefit you personally, but will not help in the career goals in the short term (ie it will benefit you long term if you apply to become a trainer with your jet outfit, but you will lose years whilst waiting for the left seat of the jet).
I was faced with a not dissimilar choice last year; The opportunity for command arose, pretty much out of the blue, with my chosen employer, but on a different fleet. Many guys more senior than me decided that they didn't want to move onto a smaller aircraft (737) and give up longhaul (767). This meant that they worked their way down the seniority list to find pilots who would be willing and that's where my chance came. I grasped the opprtunity and have never looked back. Why? Well, jet command for one, sure, but a bit more than that too. The opportunity to move back (as a captain) to the 757/767 (or whatever replaces them) will arise in a few years (minimum 2 I reckon), with the associated mix of charter/ longhaul (my preference). Pay is the other obvious factor; circa £25k pay increase in year one as a captain, whatever fleet. Add to this increased pension, loss of licence and health insurance benefits and the sacrifice of a few years of lifestyle choice (longhaul) seemed well worth it.
The biggest factor for me, which equally applies to you though, is the fact that you DON'T HAVE THAT CHRYSTAL BALL and don't know what the future holds. Another 9/11 or economic downturn etc could happen which halts expansion. You could well be leaving the security of your turbo-prop (seniority?) position and exposing yourself to cost cutting at the bottom of a jet seniority list. However, my decision was that if I (like many) had opted to bide my time in the RHS until my 'fleet of choice' command came up then any downturn could see my career command plans put back years.....
In your position I would say that now is a reasonably good time to be joining a jet seniority list. What I mean is that we are into expansion and recruitment and the best time to join is at the start of that cycle due to last in first out principles. In a previous employer I got my first jet job at the tail end of a high recruitment period, then 9/11 hit and my job was history......... you have not managed to time your jet job plans to be in at the start (I know, like me it is more the cycle occuring around your career rather than you planning your career around the economic cycle), so the longer you wait over the ext few years the more chance you have of joining at the start of the downturn (some may argue that with consumer debt so high that the next downturn may already be starting).
Anyhow, hope this has given you a few more things to consider.
Good luck with your choices.
PP