Well.
Thinking forward, there will be a glut of those with Shiney New Jet Syndrome, who are willing to work for the pitiful wages all to be able to tell people that they are pilots... As this cycles thru, they start to realize that they are not going to make tons of loot, become a bit disillusioned, and then the next crop comes through, at lesser wages and fewer bennies....It is a self defeating circle....Until someone or some group, which I have yet to see(it ain't ALPA), fight and actually stand firm to get some parity in wage structure with management, and to get back the benefits that even a summer worker at Mickey D's is getting, we will continue the de-evolution of the field... The glory days are gone..With the full understanding that people have families to feed, mortgages to pay, and bills to cover, the sacrifices made to continue in this career will be its inevitable downfall. Unless some line is drawn.. The flying public is never going to cast us a sympathetic ear, believing we are ALL making 200,000 a year, have 20 days off and own 3 houses. They will never understand the continuing battle to stop the drive to the bottom because ALPA has never really campaigned to get the word out that pilots are not being overpaid, and that pimply faced kid in the cockpit is paid less than their daughter when she worked at Burger King, and has the responsibility of getting 25-93 people safely through that thunderstorm and onto the ground when the #2 engine hits the deck....While their kid smoked weed and had a friggin' timer to tell her the fries were ready...Soooooo, while I am on my soapbox, I will apologize for the rant, but this is my view... There needs to be a movement to educate both the public and future jet jockeys on what we are WORTH, and no where in that price is the fact that we sit in a shiney new jet...Because at the end of the day, that will NEVER pay our bills....