I'm not one of them, and it's irrelevant.

It was crimsoneclipse who posited that those of us who recognize the fallacy of skyhigh's comments must have "got lucky 30 years ago."

Not so.

Skyhigh was not furloughed from US Air, nor did he/she return again and get furloughed again. Skyhigh's gospel is false and foolish, and well known.

I've worked for a number of operators who shut down, downsized, furloughed, closed, etc, and I've certainly been in the employment more than a few times. I dare say many more times than the majority of those furloughed at US Air, or many of the other places you might care to dredge up. There's no reason a single one of them couldn't have continued in the business.

I've continued at times as a mechanic, or in other capacities. I was once furloughed, working as an aircraft mechanic, and spoke with countless furloughed pilots who walked into the shop to look for work . At first they turned up their noses at getting dirty, and at the prospect of flying light airplanes on early morning cargo runs, or other duties that the company had. Soon they started coming back, more desperate, but by then the company didn't have the positions, and they lacked the qualifications. Few were mechanics, or instructors, or diverse enough to do the jobs that were available. Such is life.

I spoke with others who couldn't find work for extended periods. Some were trying to make it on unemployment. The smart ones took work where they could, even if it wasn't flying.

Skyhigh claims that he spent 20 years failing in the business, and that he came from a family of aviators, none of whom told him the truth about the industry, and that he was lied to by his flight instructors. He's told us that when he began flying, all airline pilots lived like kings and were the same as james bond. After 20 years, he decided he'd been duped, and found a new life where he could live like a king and mr. bond. Skyhigh has a lot of things to say about the business, and I haven't found a single incidence of truth is anything he or she has to say.

Skyhigh also tells us that all aviators live lives of solitary misery with no free time, no money, no family, in a small rented apartment full of cats. Skyhigh's mission is to dissuade all mankind from any involvement with aviation, and to paint the field as a tragedy in motion. He failed, and wants to drag the world down with him. Crimsoneclipse dismisses anyone who recognizes this as having "got lucky 30 years ago" and stands up in defense of skyhigh's foolishness. Such defense holds no water.

Certainly one may find one's self furloughed or out of work. Big deal. Move on.