You guys made me laugh. Back in the day (they were called commuter airlines and you thought that you died and went to heaven just to fly a plane with a bathroom and a flight attendant), we didn't have "shiny jet syndrome". Nope, the guys I were training at Ameriflight had "Westcomm fever". That's the slight bit of drool that came from the corner of the month when the Westair Bandit or a shiny new Jetstream pulled along side on the taxiway in Visalia.

Yes, I was a product of the 1500 hrs. of instruction given just to have the opportunity to fly a Piper Lance around for 4 months until Ameriflight thought I was good enough for them. I did 20 months at "Am pipe" before moving on to air ambulance and then the commuters. I went through two of those (Bar Harbor and Northeast Express) before hitting my first jet. Buffalo Airways hired me into the DC-8 after I went thru the Vito LaForgia school in Miami. 18 months later, I was hired on at World.

Why do I bring this up. It's not that I wish this on anyone. This simply the way it was done. Is paying a bunch of money up front and saving (in my case almost 4 years) time worth it? It's for you to decide.

The airlines have been, are currently, and will be in the future a very cyclical industry. The difference between most of the pilots on this board is when they got on and how long did they stick it out. I don't have any hard feelings for those who came and left for brighter things. It's a hard business.

I remind myself that the only two companies that are still in business today are Ameriflight and my current employer.

Good luck to those who stay and for those who leave.