Ok fair enough! Mr. Moto has a good point. There is a risk that you can caught up in a free-lance contract clutter, or a bond issue, if you sign on at a carrier and awnt to leave them in undue time, coz. the big boys are calling. So be real careful there!
Mr. Moto
I do not quite agree with you - Maybe some pilots do have JR to thank for, for what i do not know. Fact is - yes he may pay good for his CDRs but they have no tangible benefits (zero pension, loss of license, sick-pay, roster, etc.). In many cases, if you are a foreigner, you have to pay for your own upgrading (no bond, only cash).
Further F/Os pay now to fly on the right seat, so in actual fact the F/O effectively becomes payload. But with the lowest priority. Its fine for an F/O to bay for his rating or have if payed by the company and held by a bond, but to have to pay to fly the A/C in operations and pay for you seat thats squeezing the lemon to its limit. In my opinion thats labor abuse of a group of people who have it hard enough making ends meet after flight schools have neglected to tell them that their CPL won't get them a seat in SK for the first couple of years.
Sure I would go for it if I could not get a paid job, for the hours. Have a friend who did! But I find it moraly wrong to exploit people in such a way. It in every airlines interest to bring in new recruits and train them, especially when times are getting more and more meager.
happy flying