I competely agree that there is a certain amount of risk involved with breaking into any field. That is standard across the board, but have you no sympathy for those pilots duped into this profession by promises of grandeur, while shelling upwards of $150k, only to be left with a job which pays less than a McDonald's burger flipper, and facing possible furlough? I'm lucky enough to have been out of student debt since long before I was ever hired at ExpressJet, but I meet people in the crew room every day, who have $100k+ in student loan debt, having to choose whether to pay the piper or feed their family. But that's okay... The guys back in the 60s had to pay their dues by sitting sideways for a few years, so this is justified...