Interesting thread to read as I sit here in year 15 of a cushy six-figure desk job pondering my first airline interview in a few weeks. Five miles away, a soft rain falls on my airplane. It's been a busy year for her as I've poured a good chunk of my discretionary income into her fuel tanks while crisscrossing and exploring the western US.

The vast majority of my friends are airline pilots. For years I've put up with their b1tching and whining about the problems of the profession. Yet not a single one of them expressed anything less than jubilation when I quietly announced my plans to trade pocket protector and slide rule for yoke and throttle. The truth is ANY career you undertake has its share of jerks and quirks. I have one of those jobs that causes people's (especially pilots') jaws to drop when I tell them what I do - and we have no shortage of idiots and idiocy in this profession too! Hell, I even have a window seat! (those of you who have slaved in cubicle land know what that means )

I've also been a CFI on the side for nearly a decade. For a while that appeased my flying addiction. After the market reset in 2008, instructing opportunities slowed to a trickle. I started going through aviation withdrawal and that's when I realized that I enjoyed flying so much that I'd even pay to do it. A few months later I became one of the Os in AOPA. Ever since then, the day job seems more and more like it's just a means to an end...money in the bank to go fly my airplane!

I used to joke that if I ever got laid off, rather than going on welfare I'd just go fly for a regional. Well...ahem....for the first time in over a decade my org is laying off skilled, experienced professionals. I have lots of seniority and staying power, but this might just be the chance to get out before things get worse. Machiavelli would say fortune favors those who act rather than react, so let's hope he's right.

At least I can say I'm going into this with my eyes wide open. My biggest fear is being unable to live on a starting salary that is roughly half of the starting salary in my present career was 15 years ago. All of my airline friends point to the fact fully NONE of them died of malnutrition in the course of their regional airline flying. For what I've been paying him lately, I really hope my accountant will have some suggestions too! In the meantime, if anyone's looking to pick up the lease on a low miles Genesis, PM me!