You know.....when I graduated high school, I was offered a spot on the line at the local Chrysler plant putting hubcaps on cars. It paid a fortune (compared to restaurants & other jobs that a high school graduate was qualified for). Anyway, two of my friends made the jump and went to work at Chrysler. They thought I was nuts to pass up great pay and benefits to sit in a classroom and go to college. I lived like a rat for the years it took for a Bachelors and Masters degree and then went out and was hired at a great company. I started at the bottom, but quickly made far more than my friends who were still putting hubcaps on cars & I had a good future in store for me as opposed to a dead end job that paid well. Sacrifice and investment paid off!

When I made a career change about 10 years ago, I looked at what it would take (ratings, etc.) to get to the top of the airline pilot ladder. I again lived like a rat flying turboprops for a really marginal 121 carrier in order to get the PIC time necessary to apply for Southwest. It cost me a fortune to work for this carrier (compared to my previous executive career), but it was part of the cost of getting where I wanted to go. Just like the ratings that it took to get the job at the regional, the 737 type rating was just another step that had to be made to get where I wanted to go. Southwest was the only carrier that I targeted, since I knew many friends who had gone to other carriers only to be furloughed, run through the grinder & hating to go to work every day. I wanted something much better.

In my last year at the regional, I was faced with the same choice I had faced many years before. Take the easy route (stay at the regional or try to get on with another carrier that did not require a type rating), or take the hard road and stay at the regional, get my 1000 PIC and buck up for a type rating to make a try at Southwest. Many of my friends at the regional were jumping ship to go to work for other carriers that did not require a type or PIC time. They took the easiest route out of the regionals just to escape. It was a decision that ALL would live to regret as they are all either currently furloughed or facing furlough in the next few months. ALL hate going to work & regret not hanging on until they had the PIC for Southwest.

I was told by a number of Soutwest pilots that I knew that the 1000 Turbine PIC was an absolute minimum for even applying at Southwest (highest minimums in the industry) and that obtaining the type rating was an indicator of how much a pilot wanted to work for Southwest. I didn't have the money for the type, but I begged, borrowed and stole from everywhere to scrape up the money for the type. It was simply another investment that had to be made in order to get the best job in the industry. Same as investing in my previous education and suffering in a crappy job to get where I wanted to go, sacrifice and investing in my future paid off. I was hired by Southwest 5 years ago.

I won't bore anyone with salary figures, but I have a very financially rewarding career at a very stable company. Most importantly, I love going to work, am proud of my airline and believe that I am in the job that i will retire from. No second guessing.....no regrets.

The PIC and the type were just obstacles in the road. Nothing more.

Sacrifice and investment in your career and future are never wasted.

P.S. My friends from high school were furloughed from Chrysler over 10 years ago.