What I like about your first paragraph is that take the first word, aviation, and substitute it with any private sector job. If you ever want to break 6 figures in any (private sector) job in this country, that career field can easily be used in this category. Again, take aviation and substitue, say, professional acting, doctor, lawyer, business owner, or even politician. The "oppertunity cost" to all of these professions are high. Some require degrees, some years of professional training, and some just luck to get the oppertunity you want. In all of these career feilds, some will wash up a total failure, some quit by choice, some suffer through a lifetime, and a lucky few will make it big in all of these careers and others.

You cite oppertunity cost being high and return on investment being low. I have a hard time disagreeing with you there, right now I'm almost $80k in debt making $15k a year. But I live with the belief that my income is at the lowest it will ever be and my school debt is the highest it will ever be. This is no doubt the lowest point in my life, but I work happily knowing that through my work, upgrade and other things, my debt will only go down and my income will only go up. This belief is what tells me I've spent the investment, and once my debt is paid off, all income thereafter is return on my investment. No matter how small the return, I have paid the oppertunity cost, so now I'm just trying to live the oppertunity I paid for.

But lets look at industries where oppertunity cost, as you say, is reasonable. I have a hard time looking at government jobs because the government does not at all play by the market rules every other industry plays by. But then again with unfunded pensions, and paying employees salaries with money they don't have, perhaps governments are about primed to go through what airlines went through years ago; drastic cuts in salary and pensions that will never be paid out. But say teachers, get an associates degree and will start at 30k, but most will never get above 80k - ever. Those teachers who do see 6 figures live in cities where 70k is considered the poverty line. Any other private sector job sees even less returns on oppertunity cost. It may not cost a penny to become a bank teller, food server, or pizza hut delivery driver. But when people say regional first officers make less than a pizza delivery driver, they fail to realize one thing. The first officer is making the lowest income he will ever make in his career - the pizza delivery driver on the other hand, is making the most he will ever make in his career. This is assuming no other career or job oppertunities.

So yes, though oppertunity cost is high, potental return on investment is at least there. The only other jobs that offer the chance to retire on a 6 figure salary, most commonly referred to, are doctors or lawyers. Their oppertunity cost is even higher than it takes to be a pilot. And plenty of doctors and lawyers spend that kind of money only to never make it in that career either. But you cited so many jobs that have a lower oppertunity cost, and their salaries will probably never see 6 figures, some may never see half of 6 figures, and some careers that are free to get into allow people a chance to retire never making more than 25k. But even if you never go legacy, retiring at a regional still offers the chance to have a 100k paycheck. That is a chance so few careers offer that, to me, the low return on investment was worth the oppertunity cost.

I think this career sure beats being a teacher with 200 students, a police officer in this world today, or even a firefighter. Even though the oppertunity cost is lower and return on investment is higher in all of these fields. The life risk and/or work environment are all better, in my opinion, in a cockpit than any of the other listed work environments... Man, I type way too much...