I wish you would acknowledge how lucky you are. You didn't "love" flying more than the other guy. You did not use a better attitude to get to the brass ring. Nor was is a long string of sacrificial years of your life either. Ten years ago who among us would have foreseen the rise in prominence of the cargo carrier? The freight outfits were the stopping ground of riff raff and industry wreckage. The legacy carriers were the place to be. How can you claim to have such a profound knowledge and skill other than that of a lottery winner?

As far as I know you have never been furloughed, never been laid off, did not donate a decade or more to the military, didn't have to suffer the humiliation of poverty in your 30's. It seems to me that you have enjoyed a story book career. So how can you really claim to know aviation at all? Seems to me that you have missed out on much of what I write about. Yet here you are like a drug pusher spreading false expectations to another generation of cannon fodder. I think it is self glorification and that it hurts people.

The only difference between me and many of the pro-aviation flag waving supporters is that my company shut down. Had it succeeded or had I made it to Alaska Airlines I would most definitely have been thankful however I don't think I ever could advise this profession to anyone. People die in the pursuit of it. They watch as the best years of their lives get sucked up into a blurr of 5 day trips and the same concrete hotel room. Luck is the only decider for most and nothing more. I spent long enough. By the time I got out only more pain and hardship awaited me for my continued sacrifice.

SkyHigh