Originally Posted by
SkyHigh
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
SkyHigh I think the problem many have with you on here is not that you tend to be negative and bitter but you have 3500 posts of the same drivel and that tends to get old. You claim that you are providing some kind of service to the young, naive kids looking to get into the industry by pointing out how tough its, how unrewarding it is, blah blah blah. I think after all your past posts and responses they can glean that idea without you having to continually place post after post of negativity. I mean most of your posts are almost carbon copies of each other with some words switched around or replaced. Its like a broken record. A few posts about the perils of getting into this industry are ok but you have gone way overboard and frankly while I may feel Zapata's posts are a little on the angry side I have to say I agree with what he says. Should you have a say on here? Yes.....and you have......3500 times.....very negatively.