My view
Having spent 8 years at Flybe and now moved on to a bigger jet operator my take is:
Fantastic training, superb culture, great camaraderie, lovely small and friendly bases. The Dash 8 is noisy, unreliable but fun to fly and a great first airliner type. The Embraer is simply the finest aircraft I have ever flown and way better than the B737-800 and A320 operated by rival airlines. When you think the A320 first flew around 1988 and the Embraer around 2004 it's like comparing one of those yuppie brick phones to an iphone 6!!
On the downside though the workload is punishing - you'll get 9 days off a month and do mostly 4 sector days. This compares with around 12-14 days off at my current operator and mostly 2 or 3 sector days. Factor in the fact that as a new joiner I now earn around 200% of a Q400 FO salary or 150% of an E-jet FO salary and get 3-5 more days off a month and you can see why people are leaving in droves.
I had a great time at Flybe, I owe them a lot - indeed if the e-jet future had been more certain at the time I might have stayed long term but the overriding issue for me was their poor attitude to the plight of staff. If you work your staff harder and pay them less and don't listen when they complain about appalling crew food, poor rosters, low salaries etc then they will leave. Many people would stay even with the lower than market rate salaries if the lifestyle compensated for it, but sadly it doesn't.
Those of us that have moved on still look back with fondness for the camaraderie, the people and the friendliness of the place. In truth you probably can't better it anywhere in England and I truly truly miss that element and in weaker moments sometimes wonder if I really did the right thing. Then I pick up my pay slip at the new outfit, glance at my comfortable credit balance and know why I left...