"They say that a career pilot should expect three to five furloughs before retirement"

"They" didn't say that. Skyhigh did...

The saying is "You're not a real airline pilot until you've been furloughed".

Skyhigh says he's been furloughed three times. He quit the biz (for his own good personal reasons), as a 121 757 F/O, when National Airlines (N7) went down. Before that, he worked for Horizon Air as an F/O.

Sky, please tell us about your other two "furloughs".

My opinion on the future of the biz, based on being in it since 1984, is that it goes up and down. We are down now in a perfect storm of age 65 and the economy. Will it come back? I think so. Will it be a worthy career? Or one to be incessantly bashed as a waste of your life? Only you can decide based on your personal situation, needs, and desires.