The number of pilots that the majors will hire in the next 10-20 years is staggering. Someone hired at, say Delta, in 3 years will have a very different career that what I have had. Im at 12 years and have worked most weekends and holidays over the last 5 years. I also came back from a 5 year furlough to a company that had a bankrupt pilot contract. Things are slowly getting better at both Delta and the rest of the industry.

By comparison, it's taken me 12 years to get 11% from the bottom of the seniority list. A new hire in a few years will likely be 11% from the bottom within 4! New hires would also come to a company that has a significantly better contract than what we had a few years ago.

The new hires at major airlines in the next few years will more than likely have Great careers in front of them due to all of the retirements. I thought I was going to have a great career and it just never happened. Doesn't mean I won't have a better career down the road, the first 12 years has just been a nightmare.

Bottom line, do you enjoy the job? It's possible you could be a very young captain at a major airline and have many years of high earnings in front of you. Is it worth it? Only you can answer that one. Ask yourself, if there anything else that you want to do that can potentially pay you as much as you could make as a pilot.

Good luck to us all.