Originally Posted by SkyHigh
It is easy at 60 to be smug about your career and to feel superior.
It's not about me feeling superior! It's about you feeling inferior. Haven't you figured that out yet?
Originally Posted by SkyHigh
My point is that your experience is becoming far less common. You are an example of the fairytale that was, we are an example of the nightmare that is.
It is less common these days...not because of anything the individual does. It's all supply and demand. What happened in the 80s wasn't a fairytale by any means. Hiring standards were much higher than today, and there was no lack of people trying to get in. Those that got hired by and large earned it.
While today's hiring climate is different, it is no nightmare. Nightmares are scary dreams but they are not real. What is real is a depressed aviation business environment with that industry seemingly experiencing a major shift in the way it does business. 100 seat regional aircraft are redefining this career, and the smart folks are the ones who realize this right now and get on the train before it leaves the station.
You should have stayed at Horizon.
Originally Posted by SkyHigh
Even military pilots don't have a sure thing anymore. They are out there fighting for a piece of the pie like everyone else.
True enough. Not too many majors hiring, and not too many military pilots seem interested in the regionals. If they were, they get hired in an instant.
Originally Posted by SkyHigh
UAL and a few of the others are recalling pilots and a large amount are passing it up. The regionals are experiencing some turn over but no one knows where they are going. Most likely they are leaving senior regional jobs to work in other fields. If flying is so great why would perfectly good people walk away from it?
You are uninformed.
People pass up recalls for a number of reasons. The most common is that they have made a new life and don't want to give that up for the uncertainty of something like UAL.
That is not true of AA. When furloughees get recalled to mainline AA, they usually go back. It's simply a matter of the difference between career expectations at AA as compared to UAL.
Where are the regionals going? Straight up, that's where!! The 100 seat airliner such as the Embraer 170/190 is redefining the marketplace. Mainline companies such as USAir/America West are already flying them. Others such as NWA are studying them. LCCs such as JetBlue have done very well with them.
I do not know of a single 'senior regional' pilot who has quit to leave aviation. Not one. They have gone on to the majors, but that's not quite what you were suggesting. Not that some may have...but your statement implies something not in evidence. When you can come up with such evidence, then post it.