(not just on this forum) to help put a bit of light on on the subject..........
Most guys I fly with couldn't care less if you came from
vb, pb, va or the moon. All they care about is that you do your job and get along with them well. I wouldn't give the issue one more minute. These days the Ejet guys can apparently move so the issue is dead and buried time to move on as a pilot group. The way I see it: you wear the same uniform you're one of us. Significant majority (99%) of us see it that way.
The reality is, as you correctly pointed out, things changed in your life and you needed to move. So to will that be the case for all of us at some stage. The group as a whole must not attempt this latest flavour/idea of trapping people on a type. Bond them, freeze them, boil them but allow the 73 guy to fly the trippler and the Ejet guy to fly the 330 vice versa. Infact they should enable/support career path and growth of individuals. People flying the same type for 10+ years grow stagnant and tired. Massimo might have some whiz bang figures that show savings but I've got some true line stories of guys that just needed to move on to reinvigorate themselves. This creates movement which improves morale and also gets people into the books. A dollar figure can't be placed on those two. Happy people=Flexible Engaged Workforce. Just ask crewing at Jetstar about it. I lost count of people I know there that wouldn't help the company if their life depended on it.
There are some young guys out there that could well become well rounded longhaul captains one day and this wont happen if they just stay on type because they can't afford the paycut to move. A pilot is a 30-40 year investment for the company not some line in an excel bargraph.
Thats my bit.