Originally Posted by
DeadHead
That's not by choice, but by necessity. Just because those "airline pilots" aren't airline pilots currently, that doesn't mean they don't still have financial responsibilities.
I don't think you understand what it's like investing approximately $80,000 to $110,000 into a career only to see any hopes of a stable income being swallowed up by the market. I realize I am not a market analyst, and you may very well understand the stock market dynamics a hell of a lot better than me. That being said, somebody is making alot of money off of this and when most companies point that blame towards speculators, I tend to agree.
i do understand - i invested a huge chunk of my life (as well as a smaller chunk of cash on the backside) in the whole pilot thing. that's all a sunk cost - there's nothing i can do about it now other than savor the good memories. now i'm doing something else, because is makes sense for me and my family (both financially and otherwise).
you're right - pilots have "over-invested" in training for the "promise" of out-sized wages. union-driven wages do that by their very nature - when you demand (and get) a wage that is above the natural "market-driven" wage, you lower the rate of employment. this isn't the fault of "the market," it's a consquence of the laws of economics. there's nothing anyone can do about it, short of the government deciding it's going to subsidize pilot salaries (which would have its own negative consequences - and I think most would agree a pilot subsidy would be unfair to every other profession).
the "promise" of high wages was evaporating long before the price of oil boomed. the dramatic rise in the price of oil has only accelerated what was already happening. it's nice to be able to blame someone, but in this case, blaming the speculators is blaming ghosts.