How can we define a winner in this profession anymore? Does it mean reaching the right seat of a big jet? Does making it mean wearing the uniform of a major airline?

To me winning means earning enough to justify the cost of training, education, risk and sacrifices it took to get there while reaching a lifestyle that is better than if I hadn't made the effort in the first place.

I became a pilot because I loved to fly but also because I believed that my efforts would result in a better life for me and my family. I worked hard and long to get there. However, since I began I have seen the top of the mountain crumble till there really is little left. Wages at the regionals have been shrinking while obstacles to reaching the goal have increased. It has gotten to the point where my opinion is that it is not worth the financial or lifestyle hit to do it anymore when compared to other professions.

If that makes me negative then so be it. I just think that it means that I will not permit myself to drive off a cliff especially when I can see it coming. Most others also share a sense of self preservation. Therefore if I can bring to light facts and information that can paint a more accurate picture then perhaps I could save a few 100K and the wasted years.

If someone is taking measure of this profession and is using as a yardstick job security, financial rewards, quality of life, control over your own life, future prospects and of building professional value then this industry it is a losing proposition. There are few aviation jobs worth having anymore. The odds of making it to one of the better companies are too long for most rational people. At this point even the better companies are in doubt.

I do not think that I am negative, however I will concede that some bitterness occasionally sneaks in and adds color to what I write. The future of aviation is not bright. The oil crisis is just the latest event in the slow motion disaster that has been unfolding in the airlines since deregulation. A year from now 30% of the pilots in this country could be unemployed.

SkyHigh