I agree, it's finally getting to the point where the impracticality of it overrides the "sex appeal" of a flying career. That along with the cheap loans drying up has contributed mightily to the major decrease in new student starts. FBOs and flight schools are closing constantly. Daniel Webster announced just the other day that they're shutting down their aviation department. My alma mater, UND, now trains far more foreign students on contract than traditional undergrads. All this means that when retirements start up again and when the economy takes off, and there's a giant sucking sound of an exodus from the regionals to the majors...there will again be a shortage of pilots at the regionals, particularly the ones who don't pay well and mistreat their pilots. It won't be enough to really justify going into flying for someone considering it as Kit Darby would suggest, but it will be a real opportunity for those of us who would like to see mainline recapture a portion of the flying that has been lost to the regionals.