10 years ago I was in the military and a lot of my friends were getting out and going into the civilian flying (I stayed in). The Majors were paying their pilots wagon loads of money each month, and they even were getting signing bonuses of new cars and gold. Life was great at the top of the will fly for food chain. The cargo guys were the ones that would finish other people's drinks at the bar. They were mostly Vietnam vets with 50,000 hours flying rice around the world.

Ask someone to tell you what it is like now and you would see a much different picture of the flying business. The barrel has turned and the Majors are now the ones lurking in bars for unfinished drinks...

Guessing at what the future will be like in 10 years is a fun game, but nothing to bet on. The secret of life, if you are searching, is to find something you like and find a way to do that for a living. Don't try and guess what something is going to be like 10 years from now, figure out what you like now and do it. As your likes change, you can adapt. If not, at least you have something to talk about...

P.S. If I offended any old cargo or passenger pilots, please forgive me. I am just trying to get some weekends off...