Doctors don't really "work" for a company, for the most part they are self employed, business owners, or partners in a practice. It's really not a group of workers.
After years of working for an airline that was ALPA, I realized (as most of you know, but fail to believe) that they have no real influence on pay, benefits, or keeping your job for that matter. When I was furloughed, ALPA did nothing to try to stop the furloughs at my company. No part time lines, no reduced lines, nothing that saved anyone. Yet, after a year and a half furlough and a recall, they were sending me letters saying I owed them money. Really? Yeah, I'll get right on that.
Pilots need to realize that we are not a blue collar group of workers. We are skilled professionals. Unions were designed to protect blue collar workers. They worked for safety in the workplace and fair wages for their members. They went to the companies and negotiated these things. If they did not get what they wanted, they called for their members to strike. This put strain on the company until they negotiated further. ALPA is not a union, ALPA is an organization. It cannot negotiate wages, and it can't call for a strike. It may try to protect you if you mess up and get a violation or have an accident, but in day to day life, it has no pull.

I saw mentioned here a few times that "At least you won't have to be a truck driver." Well, I have always made a great salary as a tractor trailer driver. It pays way more than any regional out there. When I was furloughed, I got hired at a company where I worked Monday to Friday and brought home double what I did at my airline on third year pay! Why did I come back to flying? I enjoy it. In fact, I love flying. There, I said it! And when you love something, it's not really work. I enjoyed driving and the freedom of being out on your own, but I love flying. And then, four months after getting recalled...they announced I'd be furloughed again within the year! What the heck!?! I just spent a year and a half looking all over the world for a flying job (literally all over the world) without one interview, gave up the good paying driving job to come back, now I'll be out again?

Stupid industry!

Back to the job search....but this time there were actually a few interviews! This time I had a choice between 3 flying jobs. I like to feel that I made the right choice, for me. I feel like I found a "new home" here at my new airline. I feel like someone said...I may be in on the ground floor and actually move up. After four years at my other airline, where I was always upbeat, but negativity was all around me, I feel like everyone around me is upbeat and looking ahead to growth.
Everyone is different, and every flying job is different. Make the choice that makes you happy. If you don't find anything, it's not the end of the world to take a non-flying job. You need to do what you need to do, support yourself and your family. Don't sit at home on UI, on your computer once a day filling out online resumes for flying jobs, and accept nothing less. I know a guy who did that when he was furloughed, said "I won't instruct, I'm better than that now. I'm a regional pilot." Really? While your bills go unpaid and your family suffers?

If you're looking for a huge salary, the airlines are not the place you will ever find it. The best we can hope for is that ticket prices will rise to where they should be, fuel prices won't swing up and down at the whim of investors, and nothing like 9/11 ever happens again. Then, maybe airlines will share the wealth, and realize that the best safety feature in the aircraft is a well trained, well rested, well paid pilot.

Oh well, I'm ranting on...and I gotta go put on my work clothes now. In a few hours I'll look up at the stars and down at the cities below and I'll thank God that I can afford to do what I love. After a few hours, I'll be back at base. No overnights here