Clearly you’ve never had another job certainly not one that pays $250k. Flying is literally the easiest job, with the most days off, and the least amount of “after hours” work I’ve ever had. Any six figure job in the US you’re chained to the email machine, if you feel like that as a pilot you’re just a nerd that needs to relax or exit the training department.

There’s literally only a handful of people in any given department of a F500 (director/VP) that make what thousands of 12 year CAs make at any legacy make, much less wide body CAs (even wide body FOs). You don’t know how good you have it.

Medical career. PAs, NP, CRNA... all stable, portable, six-figure jobs that have an easy path to no nights/weekends/holidays.

Correct, every career is unstable. However, the travel industry is especially susceptible to economic downturns, war, terrorism, and pandemics, etc. No other mainstream career is as unstable as the airline and travel industry, IMO.

I would not recommend anyone investing $100K+ in getting into this career. Too much risk, especially has we get closer to single-pilot or pilotless flying.

You just described 99.9% of pilots in the industry. The pervasive negativity is astounding. I honestly think a great deal of pilots would benefit from looking out the window for minute, especially if it is a sunrise/sunset flight.

Meh. I can make $200K+ and be home every night doing another job that is a lot more stable than airline pilot.

I also don't care for the way pilots are treated. I'm not looking to be put on a pedestal by any means, but after years of flying in the military, at a regional, and now at a major, I would appreciate some professional actualization. Airline pilot lacks any real professional respect. A lot of that is our fault. We're treated and portrayed more like a bunch of Glenn Quagmires than we are Chesley Sullenbergers. Maybe airline pilot just isn't for me. Frankly, with the high level of automation, brutal 4-5 leg/day 4-days, the complete lack of influence pilots have on the operation (other than failing to show up ready to fly), groveling every time you do make a decision, having to chasedown down pay questions/disputes, the physical and psychological wall between the cockpit and the cabin, and "sprint-to-the-bottom" civility, airline pilots have been reduced to glorified button pushers. EU countries seem to have pretty good success putting pilots in the cockpit of wide bodies with just a few hundred hours of flight time, and at much lower wages. Is their safety record much different from US carriers?

Mainline wages are going to keep falling behind inflation. The purchasing power of our salaries will continue to diminish. $300K+ salaries will become more and more rare, especially in the post-CV contract negotiations. Will we see bankruptcies? More instability? I wouldn't spend a dime on civilian training to become an airline pilot. That money can be much better spent on other more-stable and equally (or near equally) lucrative careers. I certainly wouldn't leave a six-figure career to start at the bottom of a regional seniority list. We're just another pandemic, terrorist attack, war, or recession from experiencing another lost decade. Lots of risk with diminishing reward.

Yes, I have a pretty good seniority.

Anyway, pilot shortage.

I make a point to do that every flight. I love flying. However, the question was why anyone would leave a six-figure career to start at a regional. Wasn't that the OP's plan?

A PPL or Guard job gets you more than a few minutes of looking outside at the sunrise/sunset, with a lot less risk than leaving a six-figure career for a regional.

"Follow your heart," is widely acknowledged as the worst career advice ever.

It is misleading. AA is not issuing cash refunds to thousands of passengers on hundreds of flights.

They stated right after the first big COVID schedule pull down in April 2020, it is more lucrative to sell, sell, sell and cancel what doesn’t.

Cherry picking the canceled flights for relief is just a tactic and does not represent lost revenue vs restricting selling to what can be fulfilled.

With computers they can tell the difference between a canceled flight that requires full refunds, vs rebooking with inconvenience and retaining full revenue.

They are never going to admit they are overselling there fleet wide inventory, and they’ll never tell sales team to slow down. It’s easier to just let every other department play catch up. If it’s real sustainable demand they’ll eventually catch up, if it isn’t then they catch up even faster and then pump the brakes.

You pre-edited post acknowledged that pilots are being used as a scapegoat, reinforcing my point. "We had to cancel because Quagmire couldn't get out of bed this morning."

We all know that isn't true, but that's how we're viewed by both management and the public.

dont be a dick. Welcome to the show man. Enjoy the ride and stay humble. Don’t listen to the hate. Some of us still enjoy it!

If it's that easy, then why not do that?

My wife is a doctor from a family of lawyers and I'm constantly surrounded by people that earn far more than I do. Yet I wouldn't change jobs with a single one of them. Like you said, maybe you're just not cut out to do the airline thing, which is totally fine. Different strokes for different folks. So why continue to be miserable?

Sure you can. You sound like the exact kind of guy that thinks his military “Leadership” skills are just what companies are looking for… Military to airline isn’t exactly real world job experience, which shows tremendously in the rest of your “I’ll tell you how to run your multi-billion dollar company in a way I bet you never thought of” post. Only SEALs can military grift at that level, but feel free to pitch your coffee/T-Shirt/supplement company business plan. We’re all ears.