100%. No disrespect to anyone here, but many of us aviators don’t exactly help ourselves in that regard. A guy I used to fly with made it to the majors, and did nothing but post on social media about the cars and airplane he bought, the custom vacation home he was having built, the vacations, his ‘rough life’ sitting reserve from his new swimming pool, etc for years. He erected a facade of mega wealth (complete with #airlinepilotlife)...and he wasn’t the only one in my news feed to do so.

Now he’s posting nothing but sob stories about furloughs, and how people need to support their airline pilots. Even I’m rolling my eyes into the next zip code, and I support the cause. I can only imagine what his followers are thinking.

There’s something to be said about humility—it’s tough to play the Oliver Twist card after acting like an obnoxious big shot for the better part of a decade.

I’m not about blaming the many for the actions of the few, but there’s a reason this public perception of airline pilots being extremely wealthy and living lavish lifestyles persists, and it isn’t all coming from Hollywood. Like it or not, losers like the above poison the well for the majority who are working hard and paying their dues just to get by.

Anyway, here’s to hoping that the public (and Congress) sees the light and understands how critical this aspect of the infrastructure is.