Originally Posted by saabguy493

This argument about age is completely insane! I have been a Commercial Pilot since I was 18 and proud of it. Yes, I had to work my ass off to earn as much money as I could while being in HS. Yes I had help from my parents and I am very grateful they were willing to help me out. I was a CFI at 19 and an airline pilot at 20. Am I saying all people at my age are meant to be where I am? NO! Are there some my age that are and maybe should not be? YES, but I hope they are far and few and I am sure any good company can rule them out before it leads to a problem. I am sorry some of you guys feel that the younger pilots are ruining the industry. NOT TRUE! There are many 30+ guys willing to fly a "Shiny Jet" for less than 20k a year! It's not the age that's ruining the industry, it is the industry itself. By this I mean the pilot shortages due to due many of reasons, one being the economy. Pilot shortages mean airlines are forced to lower their minimums to find people to fill the seats. This means guys right out of school don't even have to instruct anymore to build time to be competitive. Do I agree with this, no. I believe that instructing and other types of PIC time building are crucial to developing pilot skill and decision making abilites. Again, nothing to with age! Many companies such as compass and others are using larger aircraft that mainline uses and paying 1/3 the rate to save money. Again, nothing to do with pilot age. Sorry, I don't mean to rant and rave about this. It just frustrates me that people are puting down fellow pilots just because of their age. I personally hope I never have to fly with you. As a matter of fact it has never been an issue with anyone at my company. We have 23 year old captains flying with 50 year old FO's. Just my 2 cents.