Originally Posted by
rickair7777
My best freind is an MD. He made squat until med school + one year, then he was paid a liveable wage. When he completes his specialty training he will be able to walk into $250-300K per year. He knows this, and it is not contingent on knowing someone, passing subjective interviews with personality/psych components, getting a job at one of only two hospitals which pay that much, or spending 12 years as a FO .
He has been working his butt off, but the system he's in has always found a way to pay him enough to live comfortably while a supporting three kids and a mostly-stay-at-home wife (like me he's a career-changer, not a kid).
The economic returns from aviation no longer match up to most real professions. You must have other reasons for going down this road. Justifying all the crap by calling it "dues-paying" is exactly the sort of self-delusional thinking that has gotten us all into this mess...and management loves self-delusional pilots.
great post! finally some common sense. my wife is an attorney. she stopped practicing law for about three years to pursue other interests. three years ago, she decided to practice law again, and was hired right where she left off! None of this bottom of the barrell stuff. in fact, she was hired as an of-counsel, one step above associate. Her bonuses alone are more than a 10 year regional captain's salary.