I'm also an ex eagle guy. I saw that there was no future in it for all the reasons described in previous posts. Left the job in less than a year and am currently out of aviation as a career. I am pursuing a masters in teaching science. At least I'll start out making 50k (with a secure pension, plus I like to teach) when I am done with school in a year and a half. I don't understand why there are so many people still wanting to take a job that offers just about nothing except the glory of saying "I’m an airline pilot". I too think about going back to flying as I miss it, but it doesn’t take much to remind me of the logical reasons I left. Plus, I don’t have to sleep in a hotel. I still fly light aircraft and instruct for fun and a couple of bucks and kind of laugh in my head when a young guy with big bright eyes says to me "I’m going to be an airline pilot" - I was once like that too. But it is not for me and at least I can say I did it.