I can't speak for the airline side of things because I haven't been able to break into the airline world. After my experiences as a flight instructor and becoming more educated and informed about the multitude of aviation jobs out there I am not even sure whether I am interested in flying for a regional. But the one thing I have realized is that my job is incredible. I still love the feeling of lifting off the ground and the satisfaction of safely returning. I have worked a myriad of jobs from test driving cars (which was really fun, but VERY unstable) to selling cell phones (which was not so much fun). I don't think most of the whiners of this thread have REALLY worked before if they are complaining about a flying job. I am still instructing and have been doing so for nearly 2 years. For 13 months of those 2 years I had no scheduled days off, worked from 8-20 hour days, sat inside poorly vented 1970's 172s in the Phoenix 110-120 degree summer and inoperative janitrol Seminoles in the winter, made right around 20 thousand dollars, and loved nearly every second of it. There are days when you dread climbing into the cockpit for that third or fourth flight of the day, but they are FAR outweighed by the days when it is a blast. There is so much knowledge to be learned and so many challenges to overcome in aviation that I don't ever think that it will ever become mundane. EVERY industry has its pros and cons, but this one has offered an overwhelmingly lopsided winner.

Most of the whiners of this thread in my opinion also have families. This is NOT a job/career that makes having a family easy. It requires selfishness and the ability to be away from home for extended periods of time. This should be understood BEFORE committing to aviation. In fact I consider it to be irresponsible for someone who has a family to try and break into aviation if they are needed at home or want to be home more often than not.

This is the end of my rant, but it makes me very upset when people complain about something but take no action to improve the situation.

To each his own, but if this industry is not for you, get out. I'm sick of hearing how crappy our jobs are. A positive attitude works wonders.