Believe it or not chaps I'm not in the airline industry at all. My screen name will give you a clue. I get my duties published a year in advance and I am well recompensed if they change things at short notice. I'm earning more than some mainline FO's and only work mon-fri 0800-1600.
I had the dream since I first got the chance to fly a C172 at the age of 12. I've got the debt and failed marriage to prove I've done my time trying to chase a job in the industry, I started my theoretical study in 2000.
I would have jumped at the chance of flying the embraer if it had been offered in 2007 but a lot can happen in 3 years and my priorities have changed.
My two closet friends in the business have both been made redundant in the last 12 months and don't intend going back into the industry. I had a boyhood dream but have made an adult decision on what is more important to me. It hurt like hell and I will always wonder what it would have been like to fly jets.