Originally Posted by KRAZO
The airline industry today is like training to be a passenger train engineer in like 1965. Do you want to be a pilot for the love and joy of flying? Then jump right in, corporate LOVES you people. You will work for nothing and praise the company at every turn, maybe even ratting out your co-worker's union activity. Airline Pilot, It's not just a job, it's the joy of over-nighting in Oakland, over and over and over again. The BEST pilots aren't in the left seat of a 777, they have just been with the company the longest.
I dont mean to pick apart your analogy, but its not like passenger flight is really going anywhere. People need to fly, its the fastest method of transportation in the world, and there arent many ideas on the horizon that are faster or more reliable. The training and experience one puts into becoming a pilot arent going to fall completely by the wayside the way trains have, not for another few generations at least.
EDIT: I dont mean to say that you arent valid in saying a career as a commerical aviator doesn't have to be for the love of the job, Im simply saying that the industry isnt disappearing anytime soon. Passenger airlines are in a ****ty spot right now, which is one of the reasons I have no aspirations of becoming an airline pilot, but the industry will eventually break and be forced to fix itself.