SkyHigh:

I agree with you in the fact that YES 300 hours pilots can be taught to do that stuff. Well guess what, 300 hour pilots can fly fighters, bombers, tankers, and recon aircraft -- the military does this every day. But there is an associated risk associated and as such, for civilian operations, isn't the norm. During hiring sprees, yet it happens. Additionally, Mathew Broderick showed that even monkeys can fly.

I will argue that those 300 hour wonders, whether military or civil, ARE apprentices. Besides that, you are missing the point.

Pilots today have lots of automation. However, the manual skills must still be mastered and demostrated. In the past year, I've had to fly (not all at one time) flights with no autopilot, no autothrottles, no navigational display (on my side), no ACARs (OMG .. I have to get freakin ATIS myself???), no flight directors, no VNAV, etc. My point, during those flights I still had to revert back to regular hand flying, radio usage, and navaid tuning/radial use.

And in the end, pilots weren't and aren't paid for our "flying skills". We are paid for our responsibility, judgement, knowledge, and leadership.

If your arguement were to hold water and be true, the DC-3 pilots would make more money than the A380 pilots. But something tells me that isn't the case.

I get it, you hate the industry for some ills that it brought to you. But you don't have to help tear the industry down now that you got burned. There are plenty of individuals, both large and regional carriers, who have excellent careers and love their jobs. I'm sorry you got into this industry expecting some ridiculous pay off. But please, don't cheapen my job because you think it is a bunch of video games that 13 year olds can do. That is like comparing being a surgeon to the game Operation.