As for #1, I commute out of ORD. Piece of cake. Ignore the talk about delays. ORD is much better with an extra runway. U have 3 flights on us, 5 on Comair, 1 on AA mainline a day. If u throw LGA in the mix AA and UAL run one about every hour. You will always find a way to make it. And u can throw in EWR with about 12 a day. Only tough part is picking the right flight. On the other subject about pay, it will take about 3 years min to make up the red in difference in pay.
3 years if the A320 opens up or 8 years on the E-190