I guess the question is, are you willing to work like a dog for years, get paid like a migrant worker, travel like a hobo and sacrifice family, friends and sweethearts to get a good job? This sounds exaggerated and harsh, but it is possible. You'll need 1500 hrs of flight time if you go the civilian route w/o going to (a very expensive) 4 yr flight college). That is 3 yrs of low paid existence. If you are not absolutely willing to do the above, and enjoy it, flying for a living probably isn't for you. Hours are long, pay is low for a long time. BUT, things are getting better. You must, absolutely must, have something else to fall back on career wise. During periods of airline furloughs, airline captains who had made 200K/ yr will beg for 30K/yr jobs. It doesn't matter, your fall-back, but it has to be outside of aviation. Auto mechanic, skilled carpenter; it doesn't have to be a college required job. Many pilots run a small business, just in case. The airline lifestyle is also like the military. You are assigned bases and you either move or commute--and commuting on packed airplanes which are inevitable delayed really, really sucks. You have to come to work a day early, and get a hotel room or more likely, rent a bed in a house full of other pilots. Living like in half-way house. Sometimes, you move to base and they close it out from under you and you are still stuck commuting. Makes it hard to have relationships and a family. As a reserve pilot with a 4 hr commute, I saw my family 6 days a month for 18 months. I missed my son growing up from age 2-4. He didn't know me at that time. As retirement age increases (used to be 60, now 65), more and more pilots are doing this as a second career, after the kids are gone and the money is made.