I'm currently a 27 year old mechanical design engineer and I'm STRONGLY considering a switch to become a professional pilot. I've always loved aviation, I've flown many times with my friend who flies for a regional airline and I love it. I have no ties, no kids, no wife, no steady girlfriend (yeah, I'm kind of a loser, lol) so I think now would be the perfect time to follow my heart.

I guess I'm just curious if the current pilot shortage will last. I know that in the next few years the Vietnam pilots will be retiring, so I'm curious if pilots in the industry feel that the current traits will continue. I just don't want to invest $40k and 7 months into flight training and another 6-8 months of flying dog poop around the country in a cargo plane, just to have the hiring craze fall on it's face in a year.

Any thoughts???

Thanks!