I think it’s a lot worse than many people think. Those banner towing jobs aren’t viable for the typical ‘low timer’ anymore. Buddy of mine has former regional captains beating down his door, calling about CFI jobs that he doesn’t have to offer.

Not that this means anything, but it provides context—I’m a former
fighter dbag, and I applied to dozens of aviation ground jobs, to include scheduling, FBO ‘chick’, line service, fuels, etc. Not a single callback, not even to pump gas. I went airport to airport with my resume, knocking on doors. Lots of highly qualified people applying for not-so-many jobs. It’s brutal out there, especially if you’ve got a family you can’t just uproot for a $10/hr FBO job in Desolate, USA.

Aviation is hosed for traditional low-timers, unless you’ve got an ‘in’. As such, I’m aggressively pursuing non-aviation ventures.

Sorry bud, I feel your pain. Sometimes you’ve gotta take your bolter like a
man.