RealityCheck...

This may be a reality check for you... Every airline is facing the pressure of current market conditions. Any airline that is paying above what the market will bear is destined for the bankrupcy courts. That is simply the reality of a market economy. Maybe you would rather that the industry return to protectionist regulation rather than allow the market to determine wage and benefit levels. Take a look at this article in the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031900425.html.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics over 50% of the pilots employed by part-121 US airline companies will be retiring within the next 10 years. If the mandatory age is extended at all it will only by by 2 to 5 years max. That means that nearly 38,000 pilots will need to be replaced over the next 10 to 15 years. Even if you take all of the pilots from the military, there will not be enough to fill the void. Can anyone say "outsourcing"? It won't take long for the airlines to start lobbying Congress to allow work visas for Indian pilots to come over here and fill the void. Kind of like the technology industry.

I have been a stock broker and financial advisor for many years. I am not going into the airline industry to have a sweet job working 8 to 14 days a month and make $200G a year. I am going into the airline industry because I love flying... even as a passenger. It will be a great joy to sit on the nose of such an amazing machine and launch skyward day after day.

Someone once said "Get a job doing what you truly love to do and you will never work a day in your life." I look forward to the day when I start getting paid to do what I have dreamed of my entire life.