I think the piece is silly myself. This guy walked away from a lucrative career as a chemical engineer to pursue his dream of flying. With FOUR kids at home and a wife earning teacher's pay, I could have flagged this career jump as risky at the time. The risk was taken, worked out for a while, and then didn't.
He still has a job and a paycheck, more than many people can say, despite the shock to his ego for not feeling "in command and powerful".
Many pilots suffer this same plight over and over again. Through a career as a pilot, one must live below their means. Purchasing a Harley upon upgrade seems to indicate a problem with prioritizing where the finances need to be going to plan for this sort of thing that is inevitable in this industry.
Sounds to me like they are making $75,000 a year between the two of them, even after downgrade. That is a solid middle class household income. He's got no sympathy from me.