Ok FOTGTD,
The "go to med school" comment was slightly tongue and cheek. slightly serious, but rooted in the reality of 11 years flying in the airline business.
You've never met my father, and that comment sounded nothing like him. He was a wise old fighter pilot that advised me to do what I love, so I did. My dream did come true--I flew in the Air Force.
A buddy of mine is a Lieutenant in a medium-sized municipal fire dept and makes over $70K/yr (more if he works overtime) with free medical, full retirement at age 55, and 20 days off/month. His dept has never filed ch 11 nor furloughed any of it's employees. Doesn't sound low paying to me, but I'm sure there are some FD/PDs that don't pay as much. Certain careers have certain pay commensurate with them, ours is in the process of being dumbed down by companies run and employed like a certain retail giant, with employees as willing accomplices thinking they're getting a swell deal. Cops and firefighters know what they're in for as far as pay and willingly accept it. If they don't like it, they can quit. You didn't like giving sponge baths so you quit...good call!!
The point of this is that just because it's the kids dream doesn't mean we should all wax romantic about the "love of flying", force feed him Kool-Aid, and tell him it's all good because he'll get to fly and do what he loves while his prospects for a family-supporting job with decent retirement are slim. RJ jobs are financially survivable when you're 25 and single. What about 45, married with kids going to college and a mortgage. I'm not far from that scenario and max RJ capt rates just wouldn't cut it. What about a capt seat at one of the LCCs with their retirements? Better save like crazy and hope the spouse has a good job with a retirement plan to back you up. What about Fedex, UPS, DHL? Lots of competition from furloughed pilots with thousands of air carrier hours. Good luck getting on with them when the hottest thing you flew was an RJ--good experience, but you'll be outgunned for years. Yes, people should pursue their dreams, but do it rooted in reality. Heck, if I had to empty bed pans, I'd quit and take a crappy flying job too and be happy about it. Eventually, I'd recognize the need to make money and build a future though. I did pursue my Air Force dream, rooted in the reality of the advise of my father gave on what to expect. It wasn't all a bed of roses, but I understood that going in so there were few surprises. My expectations were appropriately managed and so should the young, aspiring airline pilot. If today's airline industry is one you give two thumbs up, that's your opinion. I happen to disagree. I think it mostly stinks. Thing is, the aura and the excitement of flying wiz bang glass jets usually wear off in short order, and the reality of your lot in life will stare you in the face when you see friends buying nice homes, taking vacations, and putting their kids through college. Hard to look that far ahead maybe.... Maybe none of that matters to some people and that's their choice. Another buddy of mine from high school tried a career as a professional musician, had some success, then less, and eventually had to feed his family and got a more steady job. He gave his dream a shot--good for him. The young pilot wanna-be should pursue his dream, but not through rose colored glasses.