Originally Posted by BoilerUP

Its important for one to enjoy their job...but simply enjoying one's job doesn't pay the mortgage.

For a single 21 year old college graduate airline flying is GREAT - living the high life one Clarion at a time, then jetting around to various parts of the world on your days off, seeing things very few have seen. For them, the experience is part of their compensation. On the other hand, for somebody with "real-world" financial responsibilities like a family or debt, the ability to travel NRSA falls a distant last to things like paying the natural gas bill or making the house payment.

Airline pilots have historically enjoyed respectable pay as compensation for their skills, knowledge, and time spent away from home. Today, that time spent away from spouses, children, friends, etc. isn't respected - "its part of the job"...and in reality, skills and knowledge aren't really respected either.3

When is "loving it" not enough in this business? When you can't meet your responsibilities, that's when.