Phoenix,
I can understand where you are coming from. As a turboprop driver myself on pretty average money, looking at jet opportunities in OZ now I can tell you it stinks. There is nothing, or whatever is on offer pays next to nothing. In fact I am this close to packing up and heading to the sandpit, because that seems to be the last decent wage on offer. If i have to waste 10-20 years of my life then so be it. At this rate I will still be working when I am 65 and poor as ever. No thanks. Don't get me wrong, flying is fun, but I sure as hell wouldn't do it again given the chance. This industry has turned into a pile of horse manure thanks to Jetstar and other LCC's.
You have to ask yourself, why would you sell your soul to jetstar just for the chance to fly a shiny jet? I had an application in there, and withdrew it as soon as I got the email from rishworth. $58,000 AUD to fly an a320?? I have friends with NO responsibility who make more than that. I make more than that now on a prop for crying out loud. Don't forget that every captain you fly with is going to hate you, because you will be the guy who screwed over the entire pilot community to jump the queue. People don't respond well to that.
Do the right thing, go bush for a few years and build some REAL experience. Do you really want to be sitting in the right seat of a 150 seat a320 with 200 hours? Jesus I wouldn't. There are some situations you just won't be able to handle, and the captain will have to bear the load on his or her own. Jump into a jet or turbo prop with 1 or 2000 hours and you will feel MUCH better about yourself, trust me. Oh and GA isn't really the road to poverty as it once was, I was on the award wage of ~$32,000 from the second I started.
Good luck
