Having worked another career in the past and flying primarily in the GA world at the time, it seemed that the agreed thought was that we needed more pilots. AOPA seems to advertise this notion often.

However, ever since I've gone professional, it seems that pilots are a dime a dozen. No matter how crappy the pay is, how bad the QOL is, or stagnant a company is, there will always be more resumes sitting in the INBOX than there are jobs. Having flight instructed for a while, it always seems so daunting to a new student to build time and get a quality resume. Yet, there seems to be a surplus of folks making it through.

I heard that SWA has 40,000 resumes in hand!!!! 40,000??!!?? If that is true, that is 8x the current pilot workforce. Are there that many people out there with 1,500+ turbine PIC?

My seniority is dropping right now because of the fuel crisis. People are getting furloughed all over the board. I have spoken to a local flight school about getting a job when I get furloughed. They'll hire me, but don't have any positions available at present. Seems every job I find, flight school, corporate, you name it, is completely staffed with no positions available. There are pilots on the streets left and right, even some that have been furloughed since 9/11.

Its disheartening because it feels like a rat race. All these striped shoulders clambering around for their piece of the cheese.

Its frustrating.

I will admit, however, that the regionals were hiring guys with 350 hours. So perhaps that is all they could get for a while.