Originally Posted by
SkyHigh
de727ups put into words perfectly.
"That there is a significant chance that, no matter what you do, you might not make it to the top of the career. It's like a pyramid, the closer to the top you shoot for, the less likely you'll make it. If you'd be happy in the middle, then the more likely you'll make it. Not everyone who simply "wants it", is gonna get there. There is a certain amount of luck and timing involved that you can't control."
I agree. 35-40 years ago, the military was vigorously recruiting pilot candidates due to Vietnam -- the AF alone had ten UPT bases running at capacity. But there were plenty of applicants because of the draft lottery and the fact that (at that time) major airlines hired almost no civilians. Around 1/3 washed out of UPT. Airline jobs were plentiful in the late 70's, but if you ended up at the wrong company, you didn't get to KEEP the job very long. Deregulation probably killed as many pilot careers as it launched. I was a S/O for 7 years, and considered myself lucky. The list of vanished airlines is quite long.
Dickens wrote "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." Pick any era, and that quote probably applies. I agree with you that some of the unfortunate trends in the airline profession today seem to be permanent, but I also remember that we thought the same thing many times before. I expected to "see the big picture" when I retired. Nope.
