"Low pay and Airline Pilot never existed in the same sentence."

Yeah they did. 20 years ago UPS Capts made 80K a year on a DC8. Entry level regional/commuter jobs paid from 10K to 15K, and you needed 2000 total and 500 multi to get looked at. Lorenzo had broke the union at Continental with ads in the paper for pilots. 75K for Capts. 50K for F/O's.

It's never been an easy career. Not 20 years ago, not 30 years ago. It's never been a high paying career to start out. You have to pay your dues and put in your time. For some, it just turns out not to be worth it. For others, it is. To each his own...