Gidday 32MP,
This industry is full of ups and downs. One's choice to move on is influenced by any number of factors.
I thoroughly enjoyed the flying aspect of my time there (pilots, cabin and ground crew, engineers etc). Come sim or line check time, I felt reasonably comfortable going into checks. I was quite satisfied with what I was doing in the job overall. Never really had a bad day at work, but that was primarily because of the calibre of work colleagues, and in spite of what the narcissists were doing to us.
I guess you could say I was in my comfort zone
The trigger for
me to move on was a combination of successive deteriorations of our conditions via the EBA system, and 'management fatigue'. In other words, EAA (the company) and its conditions on offer no longer met my expectations as an employee. So you can see my reasons for moving on are slightly different to yours.
It's really easy to find reasons NOT to do something about your career. After nearly 15 years I could have just stayed there and cruised along, but the situation described in the previous paragraph was overwhelming........
I never expected to end up where I am now. I'd never even considered this place for a career move, mainly because of my age and the 'young' corporate image I perceived. It was only after several former workmates (now working here) hassled me to put an application in that this happened. Yes, I took a pay cut. Yes, the share price tanked while I was on ground school. **** happens, but I took a longer term view of my prospects. I was mainly after a lifestyle change. The rest has been a bonus.
As for commands mentioned by some - I've been adversely affected by this new EBA, but I'm not stewing over it. As grrowler wrote, I don't have a stiffy over getting a command, and yes it's most likely moved back with the current climate (both industrial and economic). I'm not too worried about that, because I've just done a type change and need a fair bit more time on type anyway before I'd stick in a bid for a command. For me it's more lifestyle.
Yowie11, I take a different view to yours. I don't think it's screwed here at all. It's gonna take a while to find out just what's going on with our careers. It's early days yet
32MP, as I wrote, you can find reasons for not applying to a particular company. I know of two captains at EAA that were offered, and knocked back jobs here. Both claimed they couldn't afford the (initial) pay cut, and also had concerns about the company's viability. That may have been so in the short term, but they would now both be on considerably better remuneration AND lifestyle packages, had they made the move. They were in their comfort zones too.
If you're looking for a quick command, I can't think of any airline in Australia that can meet that expectation. You have to start somewhere.
Sorry 'bout the long post