At the very least, don't quit before you've got a new position; it is easier (and less stressful to one's bank account) to get a new job while you have a current job.

Take this as an opportunity to learn another programming language at your employer's expense. In the US, at least, it is also easier to get a job while you have one. Having worked in the US aerospace industry, my experience is many companies would just lay off the Perl programmers and outsource the conversion.