I thought it was a satirical piece at first. There was not one word about sacrifice for survival. It was all material sacrifice, piles of christmas presents, trophy motorcycle, big screen television, moon bounce birthday party, and of course, the house they can barely afford (bought when we all knew there were imminent furloughs and downgrades at the mentioned airline). We have really lost our way as a society if this is considered sacrifice, and if someone who didn't even know how to fly an airplane seven years ago already draws so much of his identity from a fourth stripe, now taken away.
I do feel sorry for the guy, because he mentions his employer, appears in uniform, and admits that he arranged for a flight to be delayed in order to commute home. Very dangerous, he's likely to understand sacrifice after the inevitable disciplinary action.