m78fl370

I think the decline in users has much more to do with people getting sick of the whining, complaining, and pessimism that so strongly prevails on this site. I was a regular here during that time period as well until I got tired of all the discouragement. Only recently did I decide to return to see if things have changed. The answer is not much. And most of the same disgruntled losers are still here spewing their negativity and discouraging advice.

When I first found this site I was a flight instructor soliciting advice about getting into the airlines. I read hundreds of posts telling me how miserable the regionals are, and how I should do something else, and how I would never upgrade at the regional I was applying to. Well, fortunately I ignored the advice and was lucky enough to get hired. It's been five years now, and I still love the job. I'm also about to upgrade to captain. No telling how many guys were discouraged from all the drivel that's spouted on here and just gave up.
That and the tendency of over moderation, I speculate, is why participation here is dwindling.

sulkair

True freedom of expression will always allow all viewpoints.

Don’t you think much can be learned by sifting through negative opinions? And I disagree that this board is mostly whining and negativity. To me, it mirrors real life; I doubt your experiences in the cockpit are much different. It takes all kinds as they say. I find it a good balance.

Your own experience is witness to the benefits of a board such as this and all that comes with it positive and negative. You obviously did your own thinking and made a good decision - for you.

When reading reviews of a product online, I often find the most scathing and emotionally charged reviews shed a kind of back light which I cannot get from the more moderate reviews – and ironically these people often sway me to the opposite side they intended.

I'm not discouraged by negativity - Its life. Good parents teach their kids not to become overly influenced by the bad attitudes of others. I always learn something important from someone else’s bad attitude.

But beyond all this, there are some fabulously smart guys who post regularly on this board. I always look forward to a good read when one of them surfaces. I'm personally grateful to them and hope they keep it up. I feel we’d be much worse off if we didn’t have this resource.

m78fl370

You make good points, and there's no doubt that there is a lot of valuable insight available on these forums. The main point I wanted to get across is that it wears on people reading lots and lots of negative opinions all the time, and that may be a reason for the slowdown in activity from a few years ago. I know I avoided coming here for some time for that reason.

stbloc

I agree with your statement regarding negativity however you don't see many new CFI asking questions. That alone shows how few are out there and validate how little people are training to become pilots. I would expect with this hiring frenzy going on at least a page of CFI asking questions. The only post I see are "start Monday anyone else in my class". I really think these regionals will be hurting once the Delta and others announce ongoing pilot hiring.

TonyWilliams

Exactly. And it's not a significantly different thought process for the pilots, when the actual vote is taken. All the bravado here is just that.

After a decade of lost wages at majors, the value of XX isn't that big to get the desired outcome (of more cheap, contract labor flying yet bigger equipment).